Pre-Industrial Visual Cultures; to 1789
The seven Virtues, in medieval religious iconography, have been represented in various ways and various complexities. So, too, have the seven Vices, or Seven Deadly Sins. But while the Virtues are clearly part of the Lord's angelic host, there is some ambiguity regarding the nature of the Vices. I submit the theory that, being counterpart to the Virtues, the Vices are likewise devils under Lucifer.
Symbols during the middle ages changed with the attitudes of the people. Over time, the Virtues were represented so plainly that they could be distinguished only by name, and again so ridiculously convoluted that again interpretation was difficult. In fifteenth-century cathedrals the virtues bore nothing more than a shield with emblem (1) . At roughly the same time they were also being illustrated as everyday characterizations, for example: Prudence was depicted as a woman sitting in a chair, with book in hand being read to disciples at her feet (2) . Slightly more obscure was Temperance, as a woman at a table motioning with her hands an inquiry at another woman, also at the table, for permission to speak. Under this table kneels a poor man who drinks from a goblet (3) . Here the Virtues are not singular entities which personify the attributes, but rather the attributes themselves. More typical were Virtues as maidens bearing symbols representing some aspect of their nature: Justice weighing the scales with sword in hand to execute a punishment, Faith a woman with a cross, Hope a winged woman with hands upraised towards the Lord (4) . Yet these depictions also could get out of hand. Faith came to grasp a book (the testaments) and a candle (with which to illuminate man's dark world) and wea...
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...s Art, 286.
(3) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 286.
(4) Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. Plimpton press: MA, 1954.
(5) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 288.
(6) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 288.
(7) note: this is according to George Ferguson (p. 175). Slightly differing, Emile Male lists the vices: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony, Lust (p. 303). In Male's book again there is a renaming of Virtues. on p. 285 he lists the seven named above, yet on p. 311 he lists only six who have been renamed: Humility, Liberality, Patience, Sobriety, Chastity, Charity.
(8) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 302.
(9) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 302.
(10) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 301.
(11) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 307.
(12) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 303.
(13) Male, Emile. Religious Art, 311.
(14) p. 165-166.
(15) p. 175.
The rural Yoruba people believes that anyone that dies in their communities must have died at the hands of the evil spirit. The Yoruba’s have powerful spirits that they believe in. When a Yoruba woman is due for child birth, she would called a traditional high priest to come and perform some rituals to help the pregnant woman have a safe delivery. When a traditional Yoruba person falls sick, he or she always go to the spiritual priest to find out what is happening to that person. After they have gone to meet the spiritual priest, they would be given some answers or result on what the person was suffering from or the cause of the illness. Even though their maybe hospitals around them, the typical Yoruba traditional person would rather go to their ‘’Baba Lawo’’ which means the traditional doctor who they think has the power to heal the sick. The Traditional Yoruba’s don’t believe in western medicine. They sometimes think that the administration of western medicine would kill their sick family member or loved one instead of healing.
The information presented in the book Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women written by Caroline Walker Bynum starkly contrasts many modern-day assumptions about religious medieval women, suggesting that rather than internalizing the misogyny perpetuated by the men of the Middle Ages, medieval women instead relished in their femaleness and used their status in society to grow closer to God. Through the analysis of several hagiographies, amongst other pieces of evidence, Bynum illustrates the effect choosing different symbols has on the overall mindsets of men and women in the Middle Ages. Bynum’s arguments about the cultural stereotype in the Middle Ages of men as the nurtured and women as the nurturers creates a link to the religiosity of both genders, and how women specifically used their status in society to enhance their religious experiences.
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
The great debate whether Satan is the hero of Milton’s Epic Poem, Paradise Lost, has been speculated for hundreds of years. Milton, a writer devoted to theology and the appraisal of God, may not have intended for his portrayal of Satan to be marked as heroic. Yet, this argument is valid and shares just how remarkable the study of literature can be. Milton wrote his tale of the fall of man in the 1674. His masterpiece is an example of how ideas of a society change with time. This is because it wasn’t until the 1800’s during the Romantic era, that people no longer saw the hero of literary works as perfect in every way. It started to become more popular to develop the flawed character similar to the ones written in the classics. A literary criterion that is based on a protagonist, who undergoes conflict on the outside and from within and is prevented by a specific flaw to accomplish their main goal, creates an epic Hero. In Paradise Lost, God does not face conflict because he is perfect and all-knowing, and Adam’s conflict is not presented from the very start, Satan’s is. Because Satan is the main character of the work and possesses qualities that would deem him heroic, such as his determination against tough odds, his ability to lead, and his human-like nature to error, he can be seen has the Hero of the famous poem.
...ean the media would stop lacking in the presence of the Native Americans in their productions. The limited presence of Native Americans translates to the limited possibility of Native Americans to voice their perspectives. In order to achieve a fuller picture of Native Americans, the media must stay away from misrepresenting the race when they are present. Presenting Native Americans as a race of savages only makes more people believe that misinterpretation. The media needs to become more informed about the culture of Native Americans, feature more Native Americans in their productions, and represent a clearer picture of a people that has suffered from portrayals as a primitive people. The media should never be responsible for interpreting the image of a particular race; it should serve to more accurately inform people. A more informed people create a better society.
Art was viewed in a different sense in the fourteenth century. It had a more active role and was not just decoration, but a vital component of worship and pr...
Throughout situations and research conducted by not only Robert Sapolsky or Jane Goodman, but from many other credited sources, we can blatantly see the, if not identical, similarities between the two species of humans and baboons. The most apparent likewise characteristics of this can be read and documented in Professor Sapolsky’s book, A Primate’s Memoirs. Sapolsky, who spent hundreds if not thousands, of hours studying these Savanna Baboons, sheds a vast insight into ideas of social dominance, mating strategies, instinctual prowess, community settings, hygiene, and reform of an entire generation; many of which can be unknowingly seen directly in the common occurrence of a humans daily life.
Gluttony, Avarice, Wrath, Lust, Pride, Envy, and Sloth are all commonly known as the “Seven Deadly Sins”. Each of these seven sins plays a major role in development of the different characters. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”, the Pardoner committed sins through gluttony and avarice; the Wife of Bath through Pride and Lust; and also the Monk through gluttony and wrath. However, omnipresent on all the characters are the different deadly sins that led to their development and morality.
Although both the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe were predominantly Christian, there was eventually a major divide between the two. In the Byzantine Empire, the Patriarch had a direct influence on politics, just as in Western Europe, where the Pope was more influential. Friction between the Patriarch and the Pope over whom had more power, higher authority, and over interpretation of the practices of the church, lead to what has become known as the Great Schism. Thus this would signal the splitting the Christian church into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In the movies and television shows many of us grew up watching, a stereotypical and even racist view of Native Americans was portrayed. Many of us grew up believing these detrimental stereotypes, believing they were either accurate or were not harmful. Native Americans are portrayed as wild savages who kill mercilessly in the old westerns your grandfather watched on Thanksgiving Day. Native American women are portrayed as sexy princesses who protect the white men that would later—historically speaking—wipe out their culture completely in your Disney movies. Lastly, the Native Americans who are portrayed as poor, lazy drunks who regularly smoke hallucinogens are in your comedy television shows. Without realizing these harmful stereotypes and
"Religion and the Igbo People." Queen's University Belfast | Home. 15 Aug. 2001. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. .
The Victorians' obsession with physical appearance has been well documented by scholars. This was a society in which one's clothing was an immediate indication of what one did for a living (and by extension, one's station in life). It was a world, as John Reed puts it, "where things were as they seemed" (312).
In the eyes of a non-religious person, the figure of Satan might appear as an obsolete, mythical character of an antiquated view of the world. However, upon immersing oneself in the study of this persona, one can observe the strong belief in its power and the influence that the figure of Satan represents in the religious world. One might wonder how such a feat is possible even after hordes of scientists and academics objected to the existence of such a fabled character. Moreover, many theologists advanced theories that strived to diminish the importance of Satan in order to achieve a more monistic religion. It would be normal, nowadays to find the figure of Satan relegated to the status of a mere myth of the old times much like the ancient
During the 19th century, a great number of revolutionary changes altered forever the face of art and those that produced it. Compared to earlier artistic periods, the art produced in the 19th century was a mixture of restlessness, obsession with progress and novelty, and a ceaseless questioning, testing and challenging of all authority. Old certainties about art gave way to new ones and all traditional values, systems and institutions were subjected to relentless critical analysis. At the same time, discovery and invention proceeded at an astonishing rate and made the once-impossible both possible and actual. But most importantly, old ideas rapidly became obsolete which created an entirely new artistic world highlighted by such extraordinary talents as Vincent Van Gogh, Eugene Delacroix, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Claude Monet. American painting and sculpture came around the age of 19th century. Art originated in Paris and other different European cities. However, it became more popular in United States around 19th century.
Yoruba is one of many tribes located in Africa and is one of the largest ethno- linguistic groups. Majority of the native people of Yoruba are a part of Southwestern Nigeria and Benin. However, a great percentage of Yoruba is populated by modern day Nigeria. Moreover, the Yoruba culture was an oral tradition, and majority of the people were native speakers of the Yoruba language. The native name of the Yoruba language is ‘Ede Yoruba’. The language originated through the Yoruba people because they were believed to be descendants of Oduduwa. Oduduwa, was the son of a powerful God named Oludumare. And the Yoruba people referred to themselves as ‘Omo Oduduwa’ meaning Oduduwa’s children. The Yoruba language is the pride of the Yoruba people and over 22 million people speak it. The Yoruba language had been spoken within other languages in neighboring countries such as Benin and Togo. Other traces of the Yoruba language has been spoken in Sierra Leone, where it’s referred to as “Oku” and Cuba known as “Nago”.