final term

So the end of the semester is here. I have chosen to write a paper instead of participating in the flash mob for a couple of reasons. First, I have a very difficult time coming up at the end of this month and it is pulling me apart emotionally. I feel lost and am existing in a fog and can’t be relied upon to make a cohesive decision or to contribute anything of value. It isn’t fair to my classmates for me to cry if I am “bumped too hard” emotionally, so I have chosen to work alone. Second, I want to express what is locked up inside of me about my experience with this class and how it has impacted my life. Therefore, it is safer to work alone at this time for me and for others. If I work alone I won’t obligate others to deal with my emotional state.
I took this class as it was suggested for my degree. Art History, though very interesting to me, was not a class that I expected to change me. As we made our way through that huge 1000 page book, something wonderful was happening inside of me. We were examining and deconstructing the artwork of the masters throughout history. As we did so, we learned to read the messages of the art and how to interpret what the artist may have been trying to communicate. One piece at a time we thought discussed and considered, sharing with one another our thoughts and our own interpretations.
Though we did not discuss every single work of art in that big fat book, we covered a lot of ground. As we analyzed and considered, I found myself reaching inside of my own soul to search for the meaning of my own works. At that point, I was unsure of how to communicate the message that has been burning in my heart for the past 30 years. Before long I began to understand the message of my own artw...

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...nd spoke of God acting upon the lost sinner. The message seemed to be of sinners living their lives in indulgence and lasciviousness, and the light of God illuminating upon man; enlightening and calling the lost soul to repentance. Caravaggio himself is portrayed as confessing his lost state before God and his own acceptance of his guilty state before Him. One work of his is of King David holding the head of Goliath the giant in his hand. Other artists painted or sculpted David with their own self portrait or likeness portrayed as the hero having slain the giant, however, Caravaggio portrayed himself as the one that was slain. He paints his own face on the giant
As we moved through Vermeer, Picasso, Van Gogh, the messages become more and more parallel. Man to man, man speaking of man, to man or about man. God is completely removed from the messages of art.