The censorship of art was a common occurrence during the time of the reformation, and can still be seen in modern times. Strong emotions towards art can create a push people to protect or destroy work. Most works are meant to elicit some form of emotion, be it love or hate . David Freedberg is an author who looks at people’s relationship with art. In David Freedberg’s The Fear of Art: How Censorship Becomes Iconoclasm, Freedberg evaluates how the destruction of artworks can give hints at the historical use and function of the art piece and how people interacted with it. This review will discuss how Freedberg tackled the psychological response of the viewer, and the social and religious impacts leading to iconoclasm. While there is scholarship on iconoclasm, Freedberg brings Northern Renaissance and modern events such as the one’s involving the Bamiyan Buddhas and the iconoclasm of Murray’s The Spear of Africa together, as well as discusses the censorship of the artworks and the possible causes.
Firstly, this article discussed what iconoclasm is. Freedberg believes that destruction and censorship of art is iconoclasm . The example with Jeff Koons demonstrates that art is nothing more than its concept. Iconoclasm is art that has been dehumanised from the anthropomorphic state it was given, therefore censoring the original meaning
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Freedberg demonstrates knowledge of reasoning during his analysis, but could go more in depth of the iconoclast methods chosen and what happens to the image after it is damaged. Something he also does not do often is contemplate the counter arguments. For example, when discussing that people were supporting Zuma, he did not describe why these people wanted to support Zuma the way they did, despite giving a mention that questioning abusive expression which diminishes Zuma’s
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
Museums are usually filled with paintings which feature beautiful figures and stunning landscapes, because of this I wanted to create an exhibition which will take museum goers by surprise and create a different experience not usually found in a typical Renaissance exhibition by only featuring paintings that are out of the ordinary in a single room. My exhibition The Holy and the Gory: Martyrdoms of the Renaissance will display paintings from the Renaissance time period which depicts some of the most famous Martyrdom scenes from Christendom history. Those who are Christians will not be the only ones who can enjoy the exhibition however. Martyrdom stories are some of the most interesting ones for a person to learn about, whether they believe in Christianity or not. Also, I plan to hold this exhibition from October to November in 2014. I decided on these months because with October being the month known for Halloween and November first being All Saints Day, the day where Christians take the time to remember the saints in Christianity, both months go together with the theme of this exhibition. Though this exhibition is not meant to scare the museum goers who come to see the paintings that will be displayed, it will appeal to those visitors who will enjoy the ‘creepy’ vibe this exhibition will hold during the month of October. This exhibition is not one that is typical for the National Gallery to hold, but I feel it will be one that can be enjoyed by many museum goers of multiple faiths.
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...
I chose to elaborate on two of Karen Armstrong’s themes from the first chapter of A History of God as I felt they were both very strong ideas. The first explains how cultural differences between North Africa and Europe during the Romantic Period affected white society’s failure to realize that Islam indeed worshipped the same deity. The second explains how Delacroix’s audience desired the imagery in the painting because people were, during this time, losing their concept of God.
Karl Marx once said “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce” (8). His words ring true with regards to the two periods of Iconoclasm that happened during the Byzantine era. The exact target of all of these destructive acts may be different (icons, Buddhas, and a Christian Monastery), however, what these events do have in common is one similar outcome: the loss of beautiful historical religious artistry that can never really be replaced.
Marshall, L. (1994). Manipulating the sacred: Image and plague in Renaissance Italy. Renaissance Quarterly, 47(3), 485-532. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
“Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness.” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
In Confronting Images, Didi-Huberman considers disadvantages he sees in the academic approach of art history, and offers an alternative method for engaging art. His approach concentrates on that which is ‘visual’ long before coming to conclusive knowledge. Drawing support from the field of psycho analytics (Lacan, Freud, and Kant and Panofsky), Didi-Huberman argues that viewers connect with art through what he might describe as an instance of receptivity, as opposed to a linear, step-by-step analytical process. He underscores the perceptive mode of engaging the imagery of a painting or other work of art, which he argues comes before any rational ‘knowing’, thinking, or discerning. In other words, Didi-Huberman believes one’s mind ‘sees’ well before realizing and processing the object being looked at, let alone before understanding it. Well before the observer can gain any useful insights by scrutinizing and decoding what she sees, she is absorbed by the work of art in an irrational and unpredictable way. What Didi-Huberman is s...
...This is why the expression of faith and beliefs in artwork is one of the most important effects of the Black Death on Western Europe.
Goya’s painting has been hailed for its brilliant transformation of Christian representation and its agonizing portrayal of man’s savagery to man. The central figure
From his work, the audience could see his freedom. Free of doing anything and everything that he wants and that’s what art is. Krammer tells the relationship between art and freedom by evaluating Rothko’s artwork and style. Also, another book called, “Inclusive Design Patterns,” by Heydon Pickering contained the discussion of what art is. In this book, Pickering gave more than one definition to art. However, a unique writing in his book is that he metaphors art to view. Everyone in the world has different perspective, which means people see the world differently. Although people were looking the same artwork, they might get the totally opposite meaning. This proves two things; one is that art is free. Not only the creator of the production would have that freedom of making art, but also the audience could have the freedom of understanding the art. The other point is that the art may have more than a million meanings and that are related to the concept of “Narrative
Art has been around for centuries, and yet there are still questions that remain about the true meaning of the object. Who truly gets that last say so about what the artist was trying to depict out of the picture, is it the audience or the artist himself? While conducting research online there has been numerous controversial pictures and paintings that came up for various reasons, merely the main three topics were about sex, religion, and politics. Of course, there has been discrepancies on religious pictures, as there are several religions, simply put the one painting with multiple variations to my surprise, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. While in grade school, there are numerous schools that focus on this picture as a simple art project, therefore, reading the different opinion of people and the history behind it, is a world that no person could be prepared to walk through.
He describes this encounter as “pulverizing,” as in Silence, 17th century Christians were essentially persecuted in Japan. One key shaming act was having Christians walk over bronze images of either the virgin Mary or the crucified Christ. As a Christian, these acts would feel blasphemous, but as an individual under heavy rejection and oppression, those very same acts may feel like easy actions that would be a temporary savior from the intense scrutiny. It is in stories like these that may thoughts that question God’s silence despite the suffering of His people. As a result of these actions, these bronze images, known as fumi-e, were considered as symbols of
“Every age projects its own image into its art”. This means that the emotions and politics that Europe experience is then demonstrated through the art style of the time. It is important to study art from the past because art portrays the emotions and events of an era. Art allows people to analyze how the people felt throughout history. Art also shows the development of society, we see the styles of art change with the time periods. In art, we see changes in religious influences, religion became less of an important factor, and styles such as neoclassicism and romanticism became more popular. From the French Revolution to the French Revolutions of 1848 the viewer sees the emotion of the time through the art.