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"7 Days of Shooting" "Week #8 - Context " "Thoroughly Abstract Thursday"
Map showing the 108 km-wide Rabe crater and its surroundings. It is located about 320 km to the west of the large Hellas impact basin, about halfway between the planet’s equator and south pole, at 35°E/44°S. Rabe crater was imaged by Mars Express in two parts, on 7 December 2005 (orbit 2441) and 9 January 2014 (orbit 12736), as outlined on the map.
Credit: NASA MGS MOLA Science Team
René François Ghislain Magritte, 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist, who became well known for creating a number of witty and thought-provoking images. Often depicting ordinary objects in an unusual context, his work is known for challenging observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality. His imagery has influenced pop art, minimalist art, and conceptual art.
Magritte's earliest paintings, which date from about 1915, were Impressionistic in style. During 1916–1918, he studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, under Constant Montald, but found the instruction uninspiring. He also took classes at the Académie Royale from the painter and poster designer Gisbert Combaz. The paintings he produced during 1918–1924 were influenced by Futurism and by the figurative Cubism of Metzinger.
From December 1920 until September 1921, Magritte served in the Belgian infantry in the Flemish town of Beverlo near Leopoldsburg. In 1922, Magritte married Georgette Berger, whom he had met as a child in 1913. Also during 1922, the poet Marcel Lecomte showed Magritte a reproduction of Giorgio de Chirico's The Song of Love (painted in 1914). The work brought Magritte to tears; he described this as "one of the most moving moments of my life: my eyes saw thought for the first time." The paintings of the Belgian symbolist painter William Degouve de Nuncques have also been noted as an influence on Magritte, specifically the former's painting The Blind House (1892) and Magritte's variations or series on The Empire of Lights.
In 1922–1923, Magritte worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie Le Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first solo exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition.
Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton and became involved in the Surrealist group. An illusionistic, dream-like quality is characteristic of Magritte's version of Surrealism. He became a leading member of the movement, and remained in Paris for three years. In 1929 he exhibited at Goemans Gallery in Paris with Salvador Dalí, Jean Arp, de Chirico, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Picabia, Picasso and Yves Tanguy.
On 15 December 1929 he participated in the last publication of La Revolution Surrealiste No. 12, where he published his essay "Les mots et les images", where words play with images in sync with his work The Treachery of Images.
Galerie Le Centaure closed at the end of 1929, ending Magritte's contract income. Having made little impact in Paris, Magritte returned to Brussels in 1930 and resumed working in advertising.[10] He and his brother, Paul, formed an agency which earned him a living wage. In 1932, Magritte joined the Communist Party, which he would periodically leave and rejoin for several years. In 1936 he had his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, followed by an exposition at the London Gallery in 1938.
During the early stages of his career, the British surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte to stay rent-free in his London home, where Magritte studied architecture and painted. James is featured in two of Magritte's works painted in 1937, Le Principe du Plaisir (The Pleasure Principle) and La Reproduction Interdite, a painting also known as Not to Be Reproduced.
During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. He briefly adopted a colorful, painterly style in 1943–44, an interlude known as his "Renoir period", as a reaction to his feelings of alienation and abandonment that came with living in German-occupied Belgium.
In 1946, renouncing the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, he joined several other Belgian artists in signing the manifesto Surrealism in Full Sunlight. During 1947–48, Magritte's "Vache period," he painted in a provocative and crude Fauve style. During this time, Magritte supported himself through the production of fake Picassos, Braques, and de Chiricos—a fraudulent repertoire he was later to expand into the printing of forged banknotes during the lean postwar period. This venture was undertaken alongside his brother Paul and fellow Surrealist and "surrogate son" Marcel Mariën, to whom had fallen the task of selling the forgeries. At the end of 1948, Magritte returned to the style and themes of his pre-war surrealistic art.
In France, Magritte's work has been showcased in a number of retrospective exhibitions, most recently at the Centre Georges Pompidou (2016–2017). In the United States his work has been featured in three retrospective exhibitions: at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992, and again at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2013. An exhibition entitled "The Fifth Season" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2018 focused on the work of his later years.
Politically, Magritte stood to the left, and retained close ties to the Communist Party, even in the post-war years. However, he was critical of the functionalist cultural policy of the Communist left, stating that "Class consciousness is as necessary as bread; but that does not mean that workers must be condemned to bread and water and that wanting chicken and champagne would be harmful. (...) For the Communist painter, the justification of artistic activity is to create pictures that can represent mental luxury." While remaining committed to the political left, he thus advocated a certain autonomy of art. Spiritually, Magritte was an agnostic.
Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced pop, minimalist, and conceptual art. In 2005 he was 9th in the Walloon version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian); in the Flemish version he was 18th.
BIBLICAL CONTEXT: Psalm 36:5-9 NIV
(from biblegateway.com)
5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
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5 MORE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)
2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)
4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)
5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)
Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!
In the playful context of Seattle Center’s festival grounds, Sonic Bloom is a permanent interactive art installation at the foot of Seattle’s Space Needle and a defining entry sculpture to the Pacific Science Center. 5 giant solar flowers absorb the sun’s energy and express it at night with patterned LED lighting and in the daytime with a chorus of interactive harmonic tones triggered by people’s movement around each flower. The striped stalks are also massive barcodes that allow inquisitive types to decode the supersized puzzle.
At the foot of Seattle’s Space Needle and a defining entry sculpture to the Pacific Science Center, Sonic Bloom was conceived as a dynamic and educational focal piece that would extend the Science Center’s education outside of their buildings while engaging the public with an iconic artwork prompting curiosity and interactivity both during the day and night.
Commissioned by the Pacific Science Center and Seattle City Light’s Green Up Program.
5 flowers: 20’ diameter and up to 40’ tall. Steel, fiberglass, custom photo voltaic cells, LEDs, sensors, interactive sound system and energy data monitoring.
Objeto: Techumbre del Palacio de Altamira.
Contexto cultural: cristiano, mudéjar
Datación: Finales del siglo XV
Material: Yeso, madera
Procedencia: Torrijos, Toledo
Ubicación actual: Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid.
Estado de visibilidad actual: Visible
Dimensiones: 5,50 m diámetro de la cúpula ; ancho de la techumbre 5,50 m d; Altura máxima 8 m
Referencias:
Número de inventario del museo: 63585
•Se trata de una techumbre octogonal, dorada y policromada, de tipo cupular ataujerado (la ornamentación oculta la estructura de la armadura de madera) que apoya sobre pechinas de mocárabes. La habitación en que se encontraba tenía una altura de 8 m, a 4,40 m se situaba una franja de yesería con una inscripción en caracteres góticos, alusiva a los Reyes Católicos. Por encima un friso de yeso decorado con entrelazos y conchas bajo arquillos y en los ángulos nacen cuatro pechinas de madera decoradas con mocárabes que sirven para pasar de la forma cuadrada de la estancia a la octogonal. A continuación hay otra faja de 1 m de ancho aproximadamente decorada en sus centros con grandes conchas o veneras alusivas a la Orden de Santiago a la que pertenecía Don Gutierre, y encima de ésta otro friso también octogonal con los escudos de los propietarios del palacio. La decoración de la cúpula está formada a base de lacería (lazo de 10), ataurique y motivos vegetales.
•Procede del desaparecido Palacio de los Cárdenas de Torrijos, también conocido como Palacio de Altamira o Palacio de los Duques de Maqueda, construido a fines del siglo XV por Don Gutierre de Cárdenas y su esposa Doña Teresa Enríque. En cada ángulo del patio del palacio existía una torre con una cúpula de madera similar. El palacio se desmanteló entre 1902 y 1904, la cúpula del M.A.N. fue adquirida por un particular, que construyó en Oropesa una torre para albérgala. El M.A.N. la compró a sus herederos en 1969. De la majestuosidad de este palacio da idea el que se conserven otras cinco techumbres en diversos museos e instituciones: una en el Victoria & Albert Museum de Londres (www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/6215), otra en el California Palace of the Legion of Honor de San Francisco (USA) (art.famsf.org/anonymous/ceiling-palacio-de-altamira-4616), una tercera, expoliada por William Randolph Hearst, estaría en la 3ª planta del Jack’s Cannery Bar de San Francisco (books.google.es/books?id=fRGlfvF8TwoC&pg=PA337&lp...), otra en The Philadelphia Museum of Art y la quinta en el Chateau de Villandry (Francia)(www.larazon.es/detalle_hemeroteca/noticias/LA_RAZON_40164...).
•Ver ficha MAVIT 000124 (mavit.toletho.com/ficha.php?inventario=000124) sobre una tinaja ochavada procedente de este palacio.
Ficha de la techumbre en CERES [consultada el 06-05-2014]:
ceres.mcu.es/pages/ResultSearch?txtSimpleSearch=Castillo%...
FRANCO, A "Cúpula de Torrijos" in Discover Islamic Art. Place: Museum With No Frontiers, 2014. [consultada el 06-05-2014] www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=object;IS...
PÉREZ SUESCUN, F.; “La techumbre de Torrijos. LOS PALACIOS MUDÉJARES”; Pieza del Mes, Ciclo 1998 “De la cueva al palacio: vivienda y vida cotidiana”; diciembre 1998, Museo Arqueológico Nacional.
www.man.es/man/dms/man/actividades/pieza-del-mes/historic...
A great piece in the context of the expansion of Benedictine monasticism in the Catalan counties under the impulse of the Frankish carolingian monarchy
Distant View of Wind Mills East of Village of Carmichael SASK
& Vid Doc
Zoom Out
to a Beauty Prairie Cloudscape Landscape
In other countries you would think these belong to the Ku Klus Klan.
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Kacey Marlatt at Starfish Studios, Seattle, WA.
August 2009.
Makeup + hair: Finn von Claret
Photography: Libby Bulloff
cape town - south africa 10/2010
listening to frittenbude – mindestens in 1000 jahren
What you see here is the main hall of the victoria wharf shopping center in cape town - south africa. I've written enough about the waterfront and the role of the area in the context of the apartheid regime. If you're interested just check this link for further information:
Bible School for the Nations outreach to the DR Congo and Tanzania, where the team taught a seminar to pastors and church leaders from across the country.
The BSN studies the Bible chronologically within its context with an emphasis on application and interaction. Through this study we discover God’s hand and purposes in history and his heart for nations. Students develop skills to approach difficult passages and to compile a topical resource. Training is also provided for the students to become more creative and effective communicators.
Outreach
The two-month outreach phase helps students grow in their team-building and leadership skills, as well as gain practical experience in conducting a Bible seminar in a cross-cultural setting. The outreach will take Bible training to those who would not otherwise receive it. The BSN outreach teams work alongside YWAM’s BELT (Biblical Education & Leadership Training) ministry. BELT conducts courses for community and church leaders with limited access to biblical training, frequently partnering with Wycliffe Bible Translators to train indigenous leaders after the translation of New Testaments.
The Bible School for the Nations further equips YWAMers to disciple communities and nations from a Biblical perspective. BSN not only partners with BELT, but also with the School of the Bible, which provides an in-depth study of the material introduced in the Bible School for the Nations. Together, the desire is to see ministries begun in all the regions of the world in need of Biblical training.
Greenlandic masks are known primarily in an East Greenlandic context which can be described as a genuine mask culture. Only a few examples of masks can be found in West Greenland and here the artistic expression is totally different.
Not much is known about the role of masks in traditional societies and not many masks exist prior to the turn of the century. The reason may lie in the mask`s strong personal link with its owner. Masks have often followed their owners to the grave or perhaps been destroyed at death. Another theory is that the mask`s power was so great that it had to be destroyed after use in a cult context.
East Greenlandic masks are often destribed as dancing masks to be used in connection with different kinds of ceremonies or lamp extinguishing games. Theatrical masks were used for entertainment and house masks, which were smaller than the others, represented a domestic spirit and protected the home and its members.
Image taken at Greenland National Museum in Nuuk. The museum has exhibitions that cover all of Greenland’s history during 4.500 years. From the first Arctic Stone Age Cultures, the Norse settlements, the arrival of the Thule culture – the ancestors to the present Inuit to the gradual transition to modern Greenland.
Hear a description and historical context of this incredible artifact of science, art, and the intermingling of culture delivered by head of the Aga Khan Museum, Henry Kim:
Krishna is considered the supreme deity, worshipped across many traditions of Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. Krishna is recognized as the eighth incarnation (avatar) of Lord Vishnu, and one and the same as Lord Vishnu one of the trimurti and as the supreme god in his own right. Krishna is the principal protagonist with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita also known as the Song of God, which depicts the conversation between the Royal Prince Arjuna and Krishna during the great battle of Kureksetra 5000 years ago where Arjuna discovers that Krishna is God and then comprehends his nature and will for him and for mankind. In present age Krishna is one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities.
Krishna is often described and portrayed as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana, or as an elder giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. They portray him in various perspectives: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the Supreme Being. The principal scriptures discussing Krishna's story are the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga (present age), which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. Worship of the deity Krishna, either in the form of deity Krishna or in the form of Vasudeva, Bala Krishna or Gopala can be traced to as early as 4th century BC. Worship of Krishna as Svayam Bhagavan, or the supreme being, known as Krishnaism, arose in the Middle Ages in the context of the Bhakti movement. From the 10th century AD, Krishna became a favourite subject in performing arts and regional traditions of devotion developed for forms of Krishna such as Jagannatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra and Shrinathji in Rajasthan. Since the 1960s the worship of Krishna has also spread in the Western world, largely due to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
NAMES AND EPITHETS
The name originates from the Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa, which is primarily an adjective meaning "black", "dark" or "dark blue". The waning moon is called Krishna Paksha in the Vedic tradition, relating to the adjective meaning "darkening". Sometimes it is also translated as "all-attractive", according to members of the Hare Krishna movement.
As a name of Vishnu, Krishna listed as the 57th name in the Vishnu Sahasranama. Based on his name, Krishna is often depicted in murtis as black or blue-skinned. Krishna is also known by various other names, epithets and titles, which reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Mohan "enchanter", Govinda, "Finder of the cows" or Gopala, "Protector of the cows", which refer to Krishna's childhood in Braj (in present day Uttar Pradesh). Some of the distinct names may be regionally important; for instance, Jagannatha, a popular incarnation of Puri, Odisha in eastern India.
ICONOGRAPHY
Krishna is easily recognized by his representations. Though his skin color may be depicted as black or dark in some representations, particularly in murtis, in other images such as modern pictorial representations, Krishna is usually shown with a blue skin. He is often shown wearing a silk dhoti and a peacock feather crown. Common depictions show him as a little boy, or as a young man in a characteristically relaxed pose, playing the flute. In this form, he usually stands with one leg bent in front of the other with a flute raised to his lips, in the Tribhanga posture, accompanied by cows, emphasizing his position as the divine herdsman, Govinda, or with the gopis (milkmaids) i.e. Gopikrishna, stealing butter from neighbouring houses i.e. Navneet Chora or Gokulakrishna, defeating the vicious serpent i.e. Kaliya Damana Krishna, lifting the hill i.e. Giridhara Krishna ..so on and so forth from his childhood / youth events.
A steatite (soapstone) tablet unearthed from Mohenjo-daro, Larkana district, Sindh depicting a young boy uprooting two trees from which are emerging two human figures is an interesting archaeological find for fixing dates associated with Krishna. This image recalls the Yamalarjuna episode of Bhagavata and Harivamsa Purana. In this image, the young boy is Krishna, and the two human beings emerging from the trees are the two cursed gandharvas, identified as Nalakubara and Manigriva. Dr. E.J.H. Mackay, who did the excavation at Mohanjodaro, compares this image with the Yamalarjuna episode. Prof. V.S. Agrawal has also accepted this identification. Thus, it seems that the Indus valley people knew stories related to Krishna. This lone find may not establish Krishna as contemporary with Pre-Indus or Indus times, but, likewise, it cannot be ignored.
The scene on the battlefield of the epic Mahabharata, notably where he addresses Pandava prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, is another common subject for representation. In these depictions, he is shown as a man, often with supreme God characteristics of Hindu religious art, such as multiple arms or heads, denoting power, and with attributes of Vishnu, such as the chakra or in his two-armed form as a charioteer. Cave paintings dated to 800 BCE in Mirzapur, Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, show raiding horse-charioteers, one of whom is about to hurl a wheel, and who could potentially be identified as Krishna.
Representations in temples often show Krishna as a man standing in an upright, formal pose. He may be alone, or with associated figures: his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra, or his main queens Rukmini and Satyabhama.
Often, Krishna is pictured with his gopi-consort Radha. Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but as Radha Krishna, a combined image of Krishna and Radha. This is also a characteristic of the schools Rudra and Nimbarka sampradaya, as well as that of Swaminarayan sect. The traditions celebrate Radha Ramana murti, who is viewed by Gaudiyas as a form of Radha Krishna.
Krishna is also depicted and worshipped as a small child (Bala Krishna, Bāla Kṛṣṇa the child Krishna), crawling on his hands and knees or dancing, often with butter or Laddu in his hand being Laddu Gopal. Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha of Odisha, Vithoba of Maharashtra, Venkateswara (also Srinivasa or Balaji) in Andhra Pradesh, and Shrinathji in Rajasthan.
LITERARY SOURCES
The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahabharata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu. Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) of the epic that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to the warrior-hero Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, although there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, a later appendix to this epic, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.
The Rig Veda 1.22.164 sukta 31 mentions a herdsman "who never stumbles". Some Vaishnavite scholars, such as Bhaktivinoda Thakura, claim that this herdsman refers to Krishna. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar also attempted to show that "the very same Krishna" made an appearance, e.g. as the drapsa ... krishna "black drop" of RV 8.96.13. Some authors have also likened prehistoric depictions of deities to Krishna.
Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.6) composed around 900 BCE mentions Vasudeva Krishna as the son of Devaki and the disciple of Ghora Angirasa, the seer who preached his disciple the philosophy of ‘Chhandogya.’ Having been influenced by the philosophy of ‘Chhandogya’ Krishna in the Bhagavadgita while delivering the discourse to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra discussed about sacrifice, which can be compared to purusha or the individual.
Yāska's Nirukta, an etymological dictionary around 6th century BC, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of Akrura, a motif from well known Puranic story about Krishna. Shatapatha Brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka, associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.
Pāṇini, the ancient grammarian and author of Asthadhyayi (probably belonged to 5th century or 6th century BC) mentions a character called Vāsudeva, son of Vasudeva, and also mentions Kaurava and Arjuna which testifies to Vasudeva Krishna, Arjuna and Kauravas being contemporaries.
Megasthenes (350 – 290 BC) a Greek ethnographer and an ambassador of Seleucus I to the court of Chandragupta Maurya made reference to Herakles in his famous work Indica. Many scholars have suggested that the deity identified as Herakles was Krishna. According to Arrian, Diodorus, and Strabo, Megasthenes described an Indian tribe called Sourasenoi, who especially worshipped Herakles in their land, and this land had two cities, Methora and Kleisobora, and a navigable river, the Jobares. As was common in the ancient period, the Greeks sometimes described foreign gods in terms of their own divinities, and there is a little doubt that the Sourasenoi refers to the Shurasenas, a branch of the Yadu dynasty to which Krishna belonged; Herakles to Krishna, or Hari-Krishna: Methora to Mathura, where Krishna was born; Kleisobora to Krishnapura, meaning "the city of Krishna"; and the Jobares to the Yamuna, the famous river in the Krishna story. Quintus Curtius also mentions that when Alexander the Great confronted Porus, Porus's soldiers were carrying an image of Herakles in their vanguard.
The name Krishna occurs in Buddhist writings in the form Kānha, phonetically equivalent to Krishna.
The Ghata-Jâtaka (No. 454) gives an account of Krishna's childhood and subsequent exploits which in many points corresponds with the Brahmanic legends of his life and contains several familiar incidents and names, such as Vâsudeva, Baladeva, Kaṃsa. Yet it presents many peculiarities and is either an independent version or a misrepresentation of a popular story that had wandered far from its home. Jain tradition also shows that these tales were popular and were worked up into different forms, for the Jains have an elaborate system of ancient patriarchs which includes Vâsudevas and Baladevas. Krishna is the ninth of the Black Vâsudevas and is connected with Dvâravatî or Dvârakâ. He will become the twelfth tîrthankara of the next world-period and a similar position will be attained by Devakî, Rohinî, Baladeva and Javakumâra, all members of his family. This is a striking proof of the popularity of the Krishna legend outside the Brahmanic religion.
According to Arthasastra of Kautilya (4th century BCE) Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme Deity in a strongly monotheistic format.
Around 150 BC, Patanjali in his Mahabhashya quotes a verse: "May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase!" Other verses are mentioned. One verse speaks of "Janardhana with himself as fourth" (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.
In the 1st century BC, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Rajuvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors". Brahmi inscription on the Mora stone slab, now in the Mathura Museum.
Many Puranas tell Krishna's life-story or some highlights from it. Two Puranas, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana, that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna’s story and teachings are the most theologically venerated by the Vaishnava schools. Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana is spent extolling his life and philosophy.
LIFE
This summary is based on details from the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat.
BIRTH
Based on scriptural details and astrological calculations, the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, is 18 July 3228 BCE. He was born to Devaki and her husband, Vasudeva, When Mother Earth became upset by the sin being committed on Earth, she thought of seeking help from Lord Vishnu. She went in the form of a cow to visit Lord Vishnu and ask for help. Lord Vishnu agreed to help her and promised her that he would be born on Earth. On Earth in the Yadava clan, he was yadav according to his birth, a prince named Kamsa sent his father Ugrasena (King of Mathura) to prison and became the King himself. One day a loud voice from the sky (Akash Vani in Hindi) prophesied that the 8th son of Kamsa's sister (Devaki) would kill Kamsa. Out of affection for Devaki, Kamsa did not kill her outright. He did, however, send his sister and her husband (Vasudeva) to prison. Lord Vishnu himself later appeared to Devaki and Vasudeva and told them that he himself would be their eighth son and kill Kamsa and destroy sin in the world. In the story of Krishna the deity is the agent of conception and also the offspring. Because of his sympathy for the earth, the divine Vishnu himself descended into the womb of Devaki and was born as her son, Vaasudeva (i.e., Krishna).[citation needed] This is occasionally cited as evidence that "virgin birth" tales are fairly common in non-Christian religions around the world. However, there is nothing in Hindu scriptures to suggest that it was a "virgin" birth. By the time of conception and birth of Krishna, Devaki was married to Vasudeva and had already borne 7 children. Virgin birth in this case should be more accurately understood as divine conception. Kunti the mother of the Pandavas referenced contemporaneously with the story of Krishna in the Mahabharata also has divine conception and virgin birth of Prince Karna.
The Hindu Vishnu Purana relates: "Devaki bore in her womb the lotus-eyed deity...before the birth of Krishna, no one could bear to gaze upon Devaki, from the light that invested her, and those who contemplated her radiance felt their minds disturbed.” This reference to light is reminiscent of the Vedic hymn "To an Unknown Divine," which refers to a Golden Child. According to F. M. Müller, this term means "the golden gem of child" and is an attempt at naming the sun. According to the Vishnu Purana, Krishna is the total incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It clearly describes in the Vishnu Purana that Krishna was born on earth to destroy sin, especially Kamsa.
Krishna belonged to the Vrishni clan of Yadavas from Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva.
Mathura (in present day Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh) was the capital of the Yadavas, to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. King Kamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy from a divine voice from the heavens that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth "garbha", Kamsa had the couple locked in a prison cell. After Kamsa killed the first six children, Devaki apparently had a miscarriage of the seventh. However, in reality, the womb was actually transferred to Rohini secretly. This was how Balarama, Krishna's elder brother, was born. Once again Devaki became pregnant. Now due to the miscarriage, Kamsa was in a puzzle regarding 'The Eighth One', but his ministers advised that the divine voice from the heavens emphasised "the eight garbha" and so this is the one. That night Krishna was born in the Rohini nakshatra and simultaneously the goddess Durga was born as Yogamaya in Gokulam to Nanda and Yashoda.
Since Vasudeva knew Krishna's life was in danger, Krishna was secretly taken out of the prison cell to be raised by his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda, in Gokula (in present day Mathura district). Two of his other siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini, born much later than Balarama and Krishna).
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief) his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana.
Krishna killed the demoness Putana, disguised as a wet nurse, and the tornado demon Trinavarta both sent by Kamsa for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kāliyā, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds. In Hindu art, Krishna is often depicted dancing on the multi-hooded Kāliyā.
Krishna lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra, the king of the devas, a lesson to protect native people of Brindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan. Indra had too much pride and was angry when Krishna advised the people of Brindavana to take care of their animals and their environment that provide them with all their necessities, instead of worshipping Indra annually by spending their resources. In the view of some, the spiritual movement started by Krishna had something in it which went against the orthodox forms of worship of the Vedic gods such as Indra. In Bhagavat Purana, Krishna says that the rain came from the nearby hill Govardhana, and advised that the people worshiped the hill instead of Indra. This made Indra furious, so he punished them by sending out a great storm. Krishna then lifted Govardhan and held it over the people like an umbrella.
The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Brindavana, especially Radha (daughter of Vrishbhanu, one of the original residents of Brindavan) became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. These became important as part of the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.
Krishna’s childhood reinforces the Hindu concept of lila, playing for fun and enjoyment and not for sport or gain. His interaction with the gopis at the rasa dance or Rasa-lila is a great example of this. Krishna played his flute and the gopis came immediately from whatever they were doing, to the banks of the Yamuna River, and joined him in singing and dancing. Even those who could not physically be there joined him through meditation. The story of Krishna’s battle with Kāliyā also supports this idea in the sense of him dancing on Kāliyā’s many hoods. Even though he is doing battle with the serpent, he is in no real danger and treats it like a game. He is a protector, but he only appears to be a young boy having fun. This idea of having a playful god is very important in Hinduism. The playfulness of Krishna has inspired many celebrations like the Rasa-lila and the Janmashtami : where they make human pyramids to break open handis (clay pots) hung high in the air that spill buttermilk all over the group after being broken by the person at the top. This is meant to be a fun celebration and it gives the participants a sense of unity. Many believe that lila being connected with Krishna gives Hindus a deeper connection to him and thus a deeper connection to Vishnu also; seeing as Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu. Theologists, like Kristin Johnston Largen, believe that Krishna’s childhood can even inspire other religions to look for lila in deities so that they have a chance to experience a part of their faith that they may not have previously seen.
THE PRINCE
On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his maternal uncle, Kamsa, after quelling several assassination attempts from Kamsa's followers. He reinstated Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and became a leading prince at the court. During this period, he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) and established his own kingdom there.
Krishna married Rukmini, the Vidarbha princess, by abducting her, at her request, from her proposed wedding with Shishupala. He married eight queens - collectively called the Ashtabharya - including Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshmana. Krishna subsequently married 16,000 or 16,100 maidens who were held captive by the demon Narakasura, to save their honour. Krishna killed the demon and released them all. According to social custom of the time, all of the captive women were degraded, and would be unable to marry, as they had been under the Narakasura's control. However Krishna married them to reinstate their status in the society. This symbolic wedding with 16,100 abandoned daughters was more of a mass rehabilitation. In Vaishnava traditions, Krishna's wives are forms of the goddess Lakshmi - consort of Vishnu, or special souls who attained this qualification after many lifetimes of austerity, while his two queens, Rukmani and Satyabhama, are expansions of Lakshmi.
When Yudhisthira was assuming the title of emperor, he had invited all the great kings to the ceremony and while paying his respects to them, he started with Krishna because he considered Krishna to be the greatest of them all. While it was a unanimous feeling amongst most present at the ceremony that Krishna should get the first honours, his cousin Shishupala felt otherwise and started berating Krishna. Due to a vow given to Shishupal's mother, Krishna forgave a hundred verbal abuses by Shishupal, and upon the one hundred and first, he assumed his Virat (universal) form and killed Shishupal with his Chakra. The blind king Dhritarashtra also obtained divine vision to be able to see this form of Krishna during the time when Duryodana tried to capture Krishna when he came as a peace bearer before the great Mahabharat War. Essentially, Shishupala and Dantavakra were both re-incarnations of Vishnu's gate-keepers Jaya and Vijaya, who were cursed to be born on Earth, to be delivered by the Vishnu back to Vaikuntha.
KURUKSHETRA WAR AND BHAGAVAD GITA
Once battle seemed inevitable, Krishna offered both sides the opportunity to choose between having either his army called narayani sena or himself alone, but on the condition that he personally would not raise any weapon. Arjuna, on behalf of the Pandavas, chose to have Krishna on their side, and Duryodhana, Kaurava prince, chose Krishna's army. At the time of the great battle, Krishna acted as Arjuna's charioteer, since this position did not require the wielding of weapons.
Upon arrival at the battlefield, and seeing that the enemies are his family, his grandfather, his cousins and loved ones, Arjuna is moved and says his heart does not allow him to fight and he would rather prefer to renounce the kingdom and put down his Gandiv (Arjuna's bow). Krishna then advises him about the battle, with the conversation soon extending into a discourse which was later compiled as the Bhagavad Gita.
Krishna asked Arjuna, "Have you within no time, forgotten the Kauravas' evil deeds such as not accepting the eldest brother Yudhishtira as King, usurping the entire Kingdom without yielding any portion to the Pandavas, meting out insults and difficulties to Pandavas, attempt to murder the Pandavas in the Barnava lac guest house, publicly attempting to disrobe and disgracing Draupadi. Krishna further exhorted in his famous Bhagavad Gita, "Arjuna, do not engage in philosophical analyses at this point of time like a Pundit. You are aware that Duryodhana and Karna particularly have long harboured jealousy and hatred for you Pandavas and badly want to prove their hegemony. You are aware that Bhishmacharya and your Teachers are tied down to their dharma of protecting the unitarian power of the Kuru throne. Moreover, you Arjuna, are only a mortal appointee to carry out my divine will, since the Kauravas are destined to die either way, due to their heap of sins. Open your eyes O Bhaarata and know that I encompass the Karta, Karma and Kriya, all in myself. There is no scope for contemplation now or remorse later, it is indeed time for war and the world will remember your might and immense powers for time to come. So rise O Arjuna!, tighten up your Gandiva and let all directions shiver till their farthest horizons, by the reverberation of its string."
Krishna had a profound effect on the Mahabharata war and its consequences. He had considered the Kurukshetra war to be a last resort after voluntarily acting as a messenger in order to establish peace between the Pandavas and Kauravas. But, once these peace negotiations failed and was embarked into the war, then he became a clever strategist. During the war, upon becoming angry with Arjuna for not fighting in true spirit against his ancestors, Krishna once picked up a carriage wheel in order to use it as a weapon to challenge Bhishma. Upon seeing this, Bhishma dropped his weapons and asked Krishna to kill him. However, Arjuna apologized to Krishna, promising that he would fight with full dedication here/after, and the battle continued. Krishna had directed Yudhisthira and Arjuna to return to Bhishma the boon of "victory" which he had given to Yudhisthira before the war commenced, since he himself was standing in their way to victory. Bhishma understood the message and told them the means through which he would drop his weapons - which was if a woman entered the battlefield. Next day, upon Krishna's directions, Shikhandi (Amba reborn) accompanied Arjuna to the battlefield and thus, Bhishma laid down his arms. This was a decisive moment in the war because Bhishma was the chief commander of the Kaurava army and the most formidable warrior on the battlefield. Krishna aided Arjuna in killing Jayadratha, who had held the other four Pandava brothers at bay while Arjuna's son Abhimanyu entered Drona's Chakravyuha formation - an effort in which he was killed by the simultaneous attack of eight Kaurava warriors. Krishna also caused the downfall of Drona, when he signalled Bhima to kill an elephant called Ashwatthama, the namesake of Drona's son. Pandavas started shouting that Ashwatthama was dead but Drona refused to believe them saying he would believe it only if he heard it from Yudhisthira. Krishna knew that Yudhisthira would never tell a lie, so he devised a clever ploy so that Yudhisthira wouldn't lie and at the same time Drona would be convinced of his son's death. On asked by Drona, Yudhisthira proclaimed
Ashwathama Hatahath, naro va Kunjaro va
i.e. Ashwathama had died but he was nor sure whether it was a Drona's son or an elephant. But as soon as Yudhisthira had uttered the first line, Pandava army on Krishna's direction broke into celebration with drums and conchs, in the din of which Drona could not hear the second part of the Yudhisthira's declaration and assumed that his son indeed was dead. Overcome with grief he laid down his arms, and on Krishna's instruction Dhrishtadyumna beheaded Drona.
When Arjuna was fighting Karna, the latter's chariot's wheels sank into the ground. While Karna was trying to take out the chariot from the grip of the Earth, Krishna reminded Arjuna how Karna and the other Kauravas had broken all rules of battle while simultaneously attacking and killing Abhimanyu, and he convinced Arjuna to do the same in revenge in order to kill Karna. During the final stage of the war, when Duryodhana was going to meet his mother Gandhari for taking her blessings which would convert all parts of his body on which her sight falls to diamond, Krishna tricks him to wearing banana leaves to hide his groin. When Duryodhana meets Gandhari, her vision and blessings fall on his entire body except his groin and thighs, and she becomes unhappy about it because she was not able to convert his entire body to diamond. When Duryodhana was in a mace-fight with Bhima, Bhima's blows had no effect on Duryodhana. Upon this, Krishna reminded Bhima of his vow to kill Duryodhana by hitting him on the thigh, and Bhima did the same to win the war despite it being against the rules of mace-fight (since Duryodhana had himself broken Dharma in all his past acts). Thus, Krishna's unparalleled strategy helped the Pandavas win the Mahabharata war by bringing the downfall of all the chief Kaurava warriors, without lifting any weapon. He also brought back to life Arjuna's grandson Parikshit, who had been attacked by a Brahmastra weapon from Ashwatthama while he was in his mother's womb. Parikshit became the Pandavas' successor.
FAMILY
Krishna had eight princely wives, also known as Ashtabharya: Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Nagnajiti, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Bhadra, Lakshmana) and the other 16,100 or 16,000 (number varies in scriptures), who were rescued from Narakasura. They had been forcibly kept in his palace and after Krishna had killed Narakasura, he rescued these women and freed them. Krishna married them all to save them from destruction and infamity. He gave them shelter in his new palace and a respectful place in society. The chief amongst them is Rohini.
The Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Harivamsa list the children of Krishna from the Ashtabharya with some variation; while Rohini's sons are interpreted to represent the unnumbered children of his junior wives. Most well-known among his sons are Pradyumna, the eldest son of Krishna (and Rukmini) and Samba, the son of Jambavati, whose actions led to the destruction of Krishna's clan.
LATER LIFE
According to Mahabharata, the Kurukshetra war resulted in the death of all the hundred sons of Gandhari. On the night before Duryodhana's death, Lord Krishna visited Gandhari to offer his condolences. Gandhari felt that Krishna knowingly did not put an end to the war, and in a fit of rage and sorrow, Gandhari cursed that Krishna, along with everyone else from the Yadu dynasty, would perish after 36 years. Krishna himself knew and wanted this to happen as he felt that the Yadavas had become very haughty and arrogant (adharmi), so he ended Gandhari's speech by saying "tathastu" (so be it).
After 36 years passed, a fight broke out between the Yadavas, at a festival, who killed each other. His elder brother, Balarama, then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and started meditating under a tree. The Mahabharata also narrates the story of a hunter who becomes an instrument for Krishna's departure from the world. The hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. After he realised the mistake, While still bleeding, Krishna told Jara, "O Jara, you were Bali in your previous birth, killed by myself as Rama in Tretayuga. Here you had a chance to even it and since all acts in this world are done as desired by me, you need not worry for this". Then Krishna, with his physical body ascended back to his eternal abode, Goloka vrindavan and this event marks departure of Krishna from the earth. The news was conveyed to Hastinapur and Dwaraka by eyewitnesses to this event. The place of this incident is believed to be Bhalka, near Somnath temple.
According to Puranic sources, Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. Vaishnava teachers such as Ramanujacharya and Gaudiya Vaishnavas held the view that the body of Krishna is completely spiritual and never decays (Achyuta) as this appears to be the perspective of the Bhagavata Purana. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna according to the Bhavishya Purana) exhorted, "Krishna Naama Sankirtan" i.e. the constant chanting of the Krishna's name is the supreme healer in Kali Yuga. It destroys sins and purifies the hearts through Bhakti ensures universal peace.
Krishna never appears to grow old or age at all in the historical depictions of the Puranas despite passing of several decades, but there are grounds for a debate whether this indicates that he has no material body, since battles and other descriptions of the Mahabhārata epic show clear indications that he seems to be subject to the limitations of nature. While battles apparently seem to indicate limitations, Mahabharata also shows in many places where Krishna is not subject to any limitations as through episodes Duryodhana trying to arrest Krishna where his body burst into fire showing all creation within him. Krishna is also explicitly described as without deterioration elsewhere.
WORSHIP
VAISHNAVISM
The worship of Krishna is part of Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Supreme God and venerates His associated avatars, their consorts, and related saints and teachers. Krishna is especially looked upon as a full manifestation of Vishnu, and as one with Vishnu himself. However the exact relationship between Krishna and Vishnu is complex and diverse, where Krishna is sometimes considered an independent deity, supreme in his own right. Out of many deities, Krishna is particularly important, and traditions of Vaishnava lines are generally centered either on Vishnu or on Krishna, as supreme. The term Krishnaism has been used to describe the sects of Krishna, reserving the term "Vaishnavism" for sects focusing on Vishnu in which Krishna is an avatar, rather than as a transcendent Supreme Being.
All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu; while traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vallabha Sampradaya and the Nimbarka Sampradaya, regard Krishna as the Svayam Bhagavan, original form of God. Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday also worshipped Krishna as God himself. "Greater Krishnaism" corresponds to the second and dominant phase of Vaishnavism, revolving around the cults of the Vasudeva, Krishna, and Gopala of late Vedic period. Today the faith has a significant following outside of India as well.
EARLY TRADITIONS
The deity Krishna-Vasudeva (kṛṣṇa vāsudeva "Krishna, the son of Vasudeva") is historically one of the earliest forms of worship in Krishnaism and Vaishnavism. It is believed to be a significant tradition of the early history of the worship of Krishna in antiquity. This tradition is considered as earliest to other traditions that led to amalgamation at a later stage of the historical development. Other traditions are Bhagavatism and the cult of Gopala, that along with the cult of Bala Krishna form the basis of current tradition of monotheistic religion of Krishna. Some early scholars would equate it with Bhagavatism, and the founder of this religious tradition is believed to be Krishna, who is the son of Vasudeva, thus his name is Vāsudeva; he is said to be historically part of the Satvata tribe, and according to them his followers called themselves Bhagavatas and this religion had formed by the 2nd century BC (the time of Patanjali), or as early as the 4th century BC according to evidence in Megasthenes and in the Arthasastra of Kautilya, when Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme deity in a strongly monotheistic format, where the supreme being was perfect, eternal and full of grace. In many sources outside of the cult, the devotee or bhakta is defined as Vāsudevaka. The Harivamsa describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form a Vaishnava concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or avatar.
BHAKTI TRADITION
Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity. However Krishna is an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion, particularly among the Vaishnava sects. Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle of the Universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the actions of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."
The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a gopi, is the most famous of the oldest works in this genre. Kulasekaraazhvaar's Mukundamala was another notable work of this early stage.
SPREAD OF THE KRISHNA-BHAKTI MOVEMENT
The movement, which started in the 6th-7th century A.D. in the Tamil-speaking region of South India, with twelve Alvar (one immersed in God) saint-poets, who wrote devotional songs. The religion of Alvar poets, which included a woman poet, Andal, was devotion to God through love (bhakti), and in the ecstasy of such devotions they sang hundreds of songs which embodied both depth of feeling and felicity of expressions. The movement originated in South India during the seventh-century CE, spreading northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra; by the fifteenth century, it was established in Bengal and northern India.
While the learned sections of the society well versed in Sanskrit could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the devotee-poets, who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Meera and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.
These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century AD, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century AD), Vallabhacharya (15th century AD) and (Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna according to the Bhavishya Purana) (16th century AD) all inspired by the teachings of Madhvacharya (11th century AD) were the founders of the most influential schools. These schools, namely Nimbarka Sampradaya, Vallabha Sampradaya and Gaudiya Vaishnavism respectively, see Krishna as the supreme God, rather than an avatar, as generally seen.
In the Deccan, particularly in Maharashtra, saint poets of the Varkari sect such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath and Tukaram promoted the worship of Vithoba, a local form of Krishna, from the beginning of the 13th century until the late 18th century. In southern India, Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to the Krishna image of Udupi. Rupa Goswami of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti named Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.
IN THE WEST
In 1965, the Krishna-bhakti movement had spread outside India when its founder, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, (who was instructed by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) traveled from his homeland in West Bengal to New York City. A year later in 1966, after gaining many followers, he was able to form the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The purpose of this movement was to write about Krishna in English and to share the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world by spreading the teachings of the saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In an effort to gain attention, followers chanted the names of God in public locations. This chanting was known as hari-nama sankirtana and helped spread the teaching. Additionally, the practice of distributing prasad or “sanctified food” worked as a catalyst in the dissemination of his works. In the Hare Krishna movement, Prasad was a vegetarian dish that would be first offered to Krishna. The food’s proximity to Krishna added a “spiritual effect,” and was seen to “counteract material contamination affecting the soul.” Sharing this sanctified food with the public, in turn, enabled the movement to gain new recruits and further spread these teachings.
WIKIPEDIA
A) EL ARTE COMO EXPRESIÓN HUMANA EN EL TIEMPO Y EN EL ESPACIO. LA ACTUALIDAD DEL HECHO ARTÍSTICO
- La función social del arte. Su valoración en distintos modelos históricos y culturas diversas. La obra de arte en su contexto histórico.
- Colecciones y Museos. Funciones del museo en el mundo del arte.
- La conservación del patrimonio artístico. Referir los cuidados que necesita la obra artística. Criterios de conservación y restauración de arquitectura y obra mueble. Presentar el museo como centro de exposición, conservación y estudio.
B) LOS ESTILOS ARTÍSTICOS: EVOLUCIÓN HISTÓRICA Y DIVERSIDAD ESPACIAL.
ARTE DE LA PREHISTORIA
1- Pintura rupestre: las pinturas de las cuevas franco-cantábricas y las pinturas de los abrigos levantinos.
2- Megalitismo: la arquitectura megalítica de la fachada atlántica y la arquitectura ciclópea de las Islas Baleares.
Dentro de la triple división del Arte Prehistórico en Paleolítico, Mesolítico y Neolítico, significar que el hombre del Paleolítico y Mesolítico vive de la caza y desarrolla una pintura rupestre en cuevas y abrigos, mientras que en el Neolítico practica la agricultura, surgen los primeros asentamientos estables y la sociedad deja de ser «consumidora de los bienes de la naturaleza» para convertirse en «productora de su propio alimento».
Teorizar sobre los fines de la pintura rupestre (mágico o ritos de iniciación) y comentar las diferencias entre las pinturas de las cuevas franco-cantábricas y la de los abrigos levantinos.
Señalar el sentido práctico del Neolítico mediante la tipología de las construcciones megalíticas, profundizando en los dólmenes andaluces y en los talayots, taulas y navetas de las Islas Baleares.
ARTE EGIPCIO
1.- Arquitectura. La tumba y el templo.
2.- Formas y características de la escultura y la pintura.
La arquitectura egipcia es arquitrabada. Por lo que respecta a la tumba señalar su tipología y la evolución de la pirámide desde el modelo escalonado de Zoser, en Sakkara, hasta la Gran Pirámide de Keops, en Gizeh. En cuanto al templo enumerar sus partes y dependencias, y reflejar su evolución desde los edificios al aire libre (Karnak y Luxor) a los «speos» de Ramses II, pasando por el «semiespeos» de la reina Hatchepsut, en Deir-el-Bahari.
En el campo de la plástica resaltar que los egipcios se distinguen del resto de los pueblos antiguos por buscar deliberadamente el canon ideal del cuerpo humano, convirtiéndose en precursores inmediatos de los griegos. A partir de este punto, explicar los conceptos de «ley de frontalidad», «visión rectilínea» y canon de belleza basado en 18 puños, haciendo ver al alumno que entre los griegos la «ley de frontalidad» desaparece en el siglo V, y que frente al puño, en la Hélade, se prefirió la cabeza como módulo de proporción armónica para el ser humano. Finalmente, señalar que en Egipto este código se mantuvo, casi inmutable, a lo largo de tres mil años, mientras que los griegos lo fueron cambiando.
ARTE GRIEGO
1.- Introducción. Los órdenes.
2.- El templo griego: el Partenón.
3.- La escultura. Los grandes maestros de los siglos V y IV. Policleto y Fidias. Praxiteles y Scopas. Lisipo y su canon.
4.- El periodo helenístico.
5 – La escultura ibérica.
Explicar los órdenes clásicos a partir de la preocupación griega por construir a escala humana y advertir la «armonía visual» y refinamientos ópticos que utilizaron los arquitectos en curvatura de entablamentos, inclinación y éntasis de las columnas, y distancia desigual de los intercolumnios para corregir las aberraciones naturales del ojo humano. Definir sus creaciones arquitectónicas, destacando la importancia del Partenón en la cultura griega, analizando planta y alzado, así como la decoración escultórica.
La escultura griega por su importancia posterior, debe ser analizada en virtud de los grandes problemas externos e internos que resuelve. De entrada, los maestros del siglo V diferencian la «escultura» de la «imagen de culto», a través de las creaciones de Policleto y Fidias. Policleto, que se ocupará meramente de los aspectos formales, rompe la «ley de frontalidad» y aplica el canon de belleza basado en siete cabezas, regulando sus esculturas profanas por el principio de «Diartrosis». Fidias agrega a estos rasgos un contenido anímico (el «quid divinum»), que hace que sus figuras de dioses dejen de ser simples esculturas para convertirse en imágenes de culto que provocan la devoción del fiel. (Para aclarar estos conceptos, situémonos en el siglo XVII español, señalando las diferencias entre una escultura -retrato ecuestre de Felipe III o Felipe IV- y una imagen –Crucificado procesional de Gregorio Fernández o Martínez Montañés-). Explicar, asimismo, la doble tendencia de la escultura del siglo IV: la «charis» o gracia ática de Praxiteles y el «pathos» dramático de Scopas. Por último ver el resumen de todas estas tendencias en Lisipo, «el último de los clásicos». Con respecto al mundo helenístico, señalar sus límites, el proceso de secularización del arte y su carácter mundano.
Entre los siglos VI y I a. C. vivieron en la cuenca occidental del Mediterráneo un conjunto de pueblos con una cultura homogénea que los griegos llamaron Íberos. Las estatuas que produjeron constituyen hoy el capítulo más interesante del arte español antiguo. Su iconografía puede dividirse en tres apartados: los temas militares, los animalistas, y las representaciones femeninas con las Damas del Cerro de los Santos, Elche y Baza.
ARTE ROMANO
1.-Arquitectura y ciudad.
2.-Escultura. El retrato y el relieve histórico.
Explicar la ciudad romana: sus partes y construcciones más relevantes que la integran, explicando las distintas tipologías arquitectónicas.
Enfocar el análisis de la arquitectura romana bajo una doble óptica: las creaciones técnicas y los modelos prácticos. Entre las primeras cabe destacar: la concepción axial de los conjuntos monumentales, en Foros y Termas, constituyendo el precedente de los grandes palacios del Despotismo Ilustrado; el descubrimiento de la cúpula como eje de simetría vertical; el empleo del nicho como eje central de simetría dando lugar al ábside; el uso de la bóveda de cañón y la utilización de la fachada compuesta por pisos de arquerías.
Con respecto a la plástica romana enumerar la tipología de sus monumentos conmemorativos, señalando las características del relieve histórico (Ara Pacis y columna Trajana). Destacar la importancia del retrato, profundizando en la clasificación y en la doble tendencia realista/idealista.
ARTE PALEOCRISTIANO Y BIZANTINO
1.- La nueva iconografía: la pintura de las catacumbas. La cristianización de la basílica.
2.- Los edificios bizantinos y la cúpula: Santa Sofía.
3.- La decoración musivaria.
Aprovechar este tema para comentar al alumno cómo un mismo arte puede sufrir transformaciones estéticas a partir de una cesura política: el arte paleocristiano antes y después del Edicto de Milán y el arte bizantino antes y después de la revolución iconoclasta.
Del arte paleocristiano durante la etapa de las persecuciones señalar las características de la catacumba y su decoración pictórica como un nuevo lenguaje expresivo. Tras la Paz de la Iglesia, referir como se cristianiza un modelo arquitectónico comercial de índole pagano -la basílica-, poniéndola al servicio de una religión comunitaria, ya que por ser la liturgia y el ceremonial romano al aire libre sus templos se concibieron como relicarios de sus dioses, incapaces, por tanto, de albergar a una asamblea de fieles.
Del arte bizantino señalar el gran logro arquitectónico de la cúpula sobre pechinas y el derrame de empujes y contrarrestos mediante el empleo de medias cúpulas, recogiendo pero superando la tradición y técnica romana expuesta en el Panteón. Asimismo enfocar los edificios de planta centrada y basilical bajo la óptica del espacio interior como complemento al fachadismo. Analícese también la utilización del mosaico como soporte decorativo y la inflexión que se opera en la iconografía a raíz de la revolución iconoclasta.
ARTE MUSULMÁN DE AL-ÁNDALUS
1.- Arte e Islam.
2.- Arquitectura. Arte califal: la mezquita de Córdoba, arquitectura y decoración. La ciudad palatina de Medina Azahra.
3.- Arte almohade. El arte nazarí: la Alhambra y el Generalife.
Enfocar el arte islámico como producto de la dimensión social árabe, ahondando en sus principios genuinos mediante los cuales se trata de organizar y dar sentido a pueblos, comunidades e individuos. Desechar la idea deformada, distorsionada y tópica, tan extendida en Occidente, al conocer al Islam a través de una sola faceta, la religiosa, y consecuentemente enfrentarla hostilmente, bajo conceptos maniqueos, al cristianismo.
Explicar la mezquita como trasunto de la vivienda doméstica de Mahoma -un patio y un recinto cubierto- señalando sus partes y la tipología de los elementos arquitectónicos. Ejemplarizar esta propuesta a través de la Mezquita de Córdoba. Aludir también por su trascendencia a la ciudad burocrática de Medina Azahra con Abd Al-Rahaman III.
Advertir el carácter anicónico del arte y el resumen de su código ornamental en la epigrafía, la decoración geométrica y el ataurique, o decoración vegetal estilizada.
Dada la importancia del arte islámico en Al-Ándalus, significar algunos de los vestigios más relevantes del arte almohade, como la Torre del Oro y la Giralda en Sevilla. Por último, explicar la acrópolis nazarita de la Alhambra granadina bajo la triple dimensión de ciudad, alcazaba y residencia; advirtiendo la importancia de la jardinería y la «civilización del agua para los musulmanes».
ARTE ROMÁNICO
1.- Introducción al románico.
2.- Arquitectura. Elementos formales y soluciones constructivas. La iglesia de peregrinación y el monasterio.
3.- Escultura y pintura.
Incidir en su asombrosa brevedad. El momento de máxima creatividad empezó a fines del siglo XI y en torno a 1140 había sido ya sustituido, en la Isla de Francia, por el gótico. Como características sociales y políticas comentar el feudalismo y las peregrinaciones, con especial significación en el Camino de Santiago. Desde el punto de vista técnico señalar todas las variedades expresivas que cristalizan en una iglesia de peregrinación, tomando como ejemplo la catedral compostelana. Advertir, a continuación, las peculiaridades nacionales que ofrece este estilo, subordinando la decoración al elemento rector, que es la arquitectura.
No obstante, dentro del panorama escultórico considerar la función pedagógica y docente de los claustros y, sobre todo, de las portadas como «catecismos pétreos» para enseñar a una población iletrada las verdades de la fe, a través de las artes visuales. Analizar la iconografía y la funcionalidad del tímpano como una «cristianización» de los frontones griegos.
Por lo que respecta a la pintura, establecer los distintos procedimientos técnicos entre la pintura mural y la decoración sobre tabla, centrándose en el románico español.
ARTE GÓTICO
1.- Características generales de la arquitectura gótica.
2.- La ciudad: la catedral y los edificios civiles.
3.- La escultura: portadas y retablos.
4.- La pintura italiana del Trecento: Florencia y Siena.
5.- Los primitivos flamencos del siglo XV: los van Eyck.
Explicar las importantes transformaciones que se producen desde el punto de vista económico y social respecto al románico. Frente al románico agrario, feudal y monástico surge ahora el gótico artesanal y burgués.
Significación de la catedral en la Baja Edad Media. Sobre una de las grandes catedrales francesas, analizar la estructura espacial y los elementos característicos de la arquitectura gótica. En cuanto a la arquitectura gótica española comentar las tres grandes catedrales castellanas del siglo XIII (León, Burgos y Toledo) y las que surgirán en el ámbito mediterráneo.
Valoración de la escultura ornamental gótica en las fachadas de los edificios y explicación del retablo como receptáculo de historias sagradas y método de formación.
Con respecto a la pintura del período advertir la doble corriente que genera la Italia del Trecento y los Países Bajos durante el siglo XV, así como la repercusión de estas tendencias en España. Sobre la pintura italiana del Trecento, analizar la doble dirección que representa la escuela florentina a través de Giotto y la escuela sienesa mediante Simone Martini. Sobre el arte flamenco explicar la técnica del aceite secante y el procedimiento de las «veladuras» a través de los hermanos Van Eyck.
ARTE MUDÉJAR
1.- El mudejarismo en la arquitectura española.
2.- El mudéjar cortesano: palacios, capillas funerarias y sinagogas.
3.- El mudéjar popular: Castilla, León, Toledo, Aragón y Andalucía.
Advertir cómo el mudejarismo ha sido una constante en la arquitectura española. Así mismo señalar que existió un mudéjar cortesano que se manifestó en palacios, capillas funerarias financiadas por la aristocracia y en las sinagogas judías; y otro mudéjar popular que tuvo su máximo exponente en el templo parroquial con características propias en Castilla, León, Toledo, Aragón y Andalucía.
ARTE RENACENTISTA Y MANIERISTA
1.- Introducción al Renacimiento.
2.- El Quattrocento italiano. Arquitectura: Brunelleschi y Alberti. Escultura: Donatello y Ghiberti. Pintura: Fra Angélico, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca y Botticelli.
3.- El Cinquecento y la crisis del Manierismo en Italia. Arquitectura: Bramante, Miguel Ángel y Palladio. Escultura: Miguel Ángel. Pintura: Leonardo, Rafael y Miguel Ángel. La escuela veneciana.
4.- España. Arquitectura: del Plateresco al Escorial. Escultura: los primeros imagineros: Berruguete y Juni. Pintura: El Greco.
El Renacimiento italiano representa una etapa decisiva en el desarrollo de la civilización occidental. Su nacimiento en los albores del siglo XV (el «Quattrocento» o Renacimiento temprano) y el excepcional esplendor que conseguirá en el siglo XVI (el «Cinquecento»: alto Renacimiento hasta 1520, fecha de la muerte de Rafael, y Manierismo posteriormente) contribuyeron a la transición entre la Europa medieval y la Edad Moderna. Este período de investigación y plenitud creadora bastó para forjar en el terreno de las artes un sistema de representación, que perduraría intacto hasta fines del siglo XIX.
Explicar la aparición del humanismo y el sentido antropocéntrico del arte en las «cortes» italianas del siglo XV, donde los artistas combinaron las impresiones ópticas del mundo visible con un sentido de estructura interior, que derivó, tras múltiples indagaciones, a la esfera de la teoría de las proporciones, la perspectiva y la anatomía.
En el terreno arquitectónico fue donde mejor se observa el resurgir de los motivos clásicos y su adaptación a las necesidades contemporáneas. Analizar la armonía y dignidad de estas estructuras a partir de los logros conseguidos por Brunelleschi en Florencia y Alberti en Mantua.
La recuperación de los valores clásicos en la figura y en el relieve se estudian en los relieves de Ghiberti para las puertas del Baptisterio de la Catedral de Florencia. Conviene señalar la personalidad de Donatello, sus aportes a la técnica escultórica y la importancia de la escultura ecuestre en el Renacimiento.
Con respecto a la pintura, Fra Angélico permite estudiar el intimismo religioso y avances técnicos como la perspectiva lineal, el sentido del dibujo y el color en la pintura renacentista. Asimismo, apuntar la gravedad psicológica de Masaccio y su plasticidad; el uso de la luz como elemento expresivo en Piero della Francesca, y el dibujo ondulante y nervioso de Botticelli.
El siglo XVI italiano contempla la «época de los genios». Pero la belleza emanada del equilibrio entre efectos ópticos y estructuras, la síntesis entre lo clásico y lo cristiano comienza a disolverse, dando paso, por la reiteración de tipos y patrones ya establecidos, a la complacencia en el equívoco manierista. Es entonces cuando las nítidas composiciones piramidales, las proporciones naturales y graciosos ademanes son sustituidos por composiciones nerviosas, carentes de espacios y atestadas por imágenes turbulentas, artificialmente alargadas y, a veces, arbitrariamente coloreadas, donde triunfa la «figura serpentinata». Examinar los logros arquitectónicos del periodo a través de los edificios de Bramante, Miguel Ángel y Palladio.
Exponer el valor de la escultura de Miguel Ángel y la evolución de su estilo mediante la consideración de sus principales obras.
Respecto a la pintura poner especial énfasis en la obra de los grandes maestros, advirtiendo las diferencias entre el diseño romano y la pintura colorista de la escuela veneciana, ejemplarizada en Tiziano.
Por lo que respecta al siglo XVI español, profundizar en sus tendencias arquitectónicas: el plateresco, el purismo y el clasicismo herreriano. Estudiar la imaginería cristiana del período a través de Berruguete y Juni, y resumir la actividad pictórica en la figura del Greco.
ARTE BARROCO
1.- Introducción.
2.- La arquitectura en Italia y Francia. Las plantas alabeadas de Bernini y Borromini. El palacio clasicista francés: Versalles.
3.- Escultura en Italia: Bernini.
4.- Pintura en Italia. El naturalismo y los problemas de la luz: Caravaggio. El clasicismo en los frescos de los Carracci.
5.- La pintura en Flandes y en Holanda: Rubens y Rembrandt.
6.-La arquitectura barroca española.
7.- La gran imaginería: Castilla y Andalucía. Murcia.
8.- La pintura barroca. El naturalismo tenebrista: Ribera y Zurbarán. Realismo Barroco: Velázquez y Murillo.
Estudiar el arte barroco como expresión del poder de los grandes monarcas europeos, de la fluyente riqueza de los Estados y de la próspera situación del catolicismo triunfante en el Concilio de Trento. Reflexionar brevemente sobre el desprecio que sintieron hacia la cascada de propuestas estéticas de este movimiento los neoclásicos academicistas del siglo XIX y la revalorización crítica que experimenta en el siglo XX. Indicar como características esenciales el dinamismo, los efectos escenográficos y lumínicos, y el carácter unitario de todas las artes. Y todo ello, tendente a mostrar el sentido exacerbado de la vida y del destino humano a través de toda una gama sensorial: desde el estallido de la espontaneidad hasta el control del clasicismo, desde la parada teatral hasta la interioridad espiritual.
En el capítulo de la arquitectura italiana analizar las grandes creaciones de planta alabeada realizadas por Bernini y Borromini, en la Roma de los Papas, y compararla con la arquitectura palatina de la monarquía francesa financiada por el rey Sol (Versalles), de formas clasicistas.
En cuanto a los logros escultóricos, exponerlos a través de la polifacética figura de Bernini, el monarca indiscutible del barroco romano y uno de los artistas más influyentes del barroco europeo.
La pintura barroca italiana debe concentrarse en la doble corriente del naturalismo caravaggiesco y el clasicismo de los Carracci. El Caravaggio transmite a sus lienzos un análisis visual fehaciente del mundo natural, basando la composición, el dibujo y el color sobre la observación directa y produciendo fuertes contrastes de luces y sombras. Por contra los Carracci rinden homenaje en sus frescos y bóvedas a la antigüedad clásica y exaltan las cualidades del control intelectual, equilibrio compositivo, integridad de forma, claridad de dibujo y distinción del color.
Fuera de Italia, la pintura barroca alcanza un amplísimo desarrollo en Flandes y Holanda. La influencia de factores religiosos, político-sociales y económicos determinan la separación de los ideales artísticos de Flandes (católico, monárquico, aristocrático y sometido al dominio español) y Holanda (protestante, republicana, burguesa e independiente). Analizar las características de estas dos grandes escuelas pictóricas europeas a través de la producción de Rubens y Rembrandt.
De la arquitectura barroca española significar su vertiente «casticista», caracterizada por la simplicidad estructural de las iglesias de «planta de cajón», ajenas a la ondulación de muros romana, pero brillante y teatralmente revestidas en sus interiores con yesos, maderas, espejos y, en algunos casos, provistas de cúpulas fingidas. Un exultante repertorio ornamental que se traduce en las aparatosas portadas, concebidas como retablos en piedra.
Como complemento significar la importancia urbanística de las grandes plazas mayores que se construyen en esta etapa.
Entre los géneros que cultiva la imaginería barroca española destacan el retablo y el paso procesional.
Como centros protagonistas de esta etapa conviene analizar a Valladolid, con la figura estelar de Gregorio Fernández, y a Sevilla con Juan Martínez Montañés y su discípulo Juan de Mesa. Asimismo examinar los logros del granadino Alonso Cano y de Salzillo en Murcia; advirtiendo las diferencias existentes entre las escuelas.
La gran escuela pictórica española del Siglo de Oro cuenta también con dos tendencias claramente diferenciadas: el naturalismo tenebrista y el realismo barroquista Analizar la primera dirección a través de la obra de José Ribera y Francisco Zurbarán, y ejemplificar la segunda corriente mediante la producción de Velázquez y Murillo.
ARTE NEOCLÁSICO
1.- Características generales del Neoclasicismo. Las Academias.
2.- Arquitectura: Juan de Villanueva. Escultura: Canova. Pintura: David.
3.- Francisco de Goya.
Explicar este tema como una vuelta a los ideales clásicos tras el cansancio y agotamiento de las fórmulas barrocas, haciendo notar al alumno el flujo y reflujo que han tenido los grandes ciclos y ritmos de la Historia del Arte entre lo clásico y lo barroco.
Dentro de las consideraciones generales del Neoclasicismo y utilizando a Francia como epicentro, señalar la función social del nuevo movimiento estético, puesto al servicio de las clases medias y populares que, tras la Revolución y la caída del Antiguo Régimen, ven en él la derrota de la aristocracia y del gusto barroco.
Exponer la influencia de la cultura de la Ilustración en las artes y el control de la enseñanza de las mismas por las Academias.
Plantear los caracteres de la arquitectura neoclásica en torno a la obra de Juan de Villanueva.
Caracteres de la escultura neoclásica y reseña artística de Antonio Canova.
Jacques-Louis David, por su vida de compromiso político y por las propuestas formales y morales que desarrolla en su pintura, viene a ser el mejor representante de los pintores del Neoclasicismo.
La vida y la obra de Goya condensan con categoría genial los sentimientos artísticos y los aportes plásticos de la generación que vivió los difíciles decenios del paso de siglo.
ARTE DEL SIGLO XIX
1.- Introducción. Romanticismo: Delacroix; Realismo: Courbet.
2.- Arquitectura. Historicismos. Edificios de hierro y cristal. El Modernismo.
3.- Impresionismo: Monet, Renoir, Degas. Las esculturas de Rodin.
4.- Postimpresionismo: Cézanne, Gauguin y Van Gogh.
Como preludio al arte contemporáneo explicar al alumno el sentido de cambio perpetuo que impera en el terreno artístico a lo largo de los siglos XIX y XX, como reflejo de una sociedad deseosa de encontrar nuevas soluciones a los problemas que acuciantemente se le presentan.
De entrada, Romanticismo y Realismo se convierten en una actitud ante la vida. Enfocar el Romanticismo como una pose adoptada por los artistas que quieren escapar de la sociedad burguesa decimonónica. El Realismo, tendencia doctrinaria y fanática, sobrepasó las fronteras del arte para extender su lucha a la vida política y militar.
Sus protagonistas van a ser mayoritariamente fieles republicanos entregados a la clase trabajadora.
Consecuentemente los artistas otorgan prioridad a la vista sobre otros principios abstractos de forma y composición, contenido emocional o narrativo. Este énfasis será asimismo esencial en la formación del Impresionismo.
Estúdiense ambos movimientos a través de la obra de Delacroix y de Courbet.
Los cambios del mapa europeo tras la caída de Napoleón y el advenimiento de la burguesía al poder provocan un fuerte interés por conocer las raíces históricas medievales, que tienen su reflejo en la revitalización de los estilos históricos: neorrománico, neogótico, neobizantino, etc. Hacia mediados de siglo se llega progresivamente a la delimitación de función y estilo que es característica de la arquitectura del Eclecticismo. Pueden estudiarse como ejemplos el Congreso de los Diputados y la Basílica de Covadonga, entre otros. Los problemas estilísticos que preocupaban a los arquitectos del siglo XIX encontraron una primera respuesta en la estética del Modernismo, en la cual se enlazan el culto al naturalismo y la aplicación de la tecnología del hierro. Pueden estudiarse estos planteamientos en las obras principales de Victor Horta y Antonio Gaudí.
Finalmente advertir las grandes aportaciones, basadas en la experiencia óptica directa de la luz y del color, que al terreno pictórico ofrecen los impresionistas: Monet, Degas y Renoir; incluyendo como colofón del movimiento la figura escultórica de Rodin.
Del postimpresionismo estudiar a sus tres grandes protagonistas, haciendo notar que de estos maestros surgirán otras tantas direcciones que tomará la pintura del siglo XX: Cézanne y el cubismo, Van Gogh y el expresionismo, y Gauguin, que abrirá los cauces del fauvismo, ingenuismo y primitivismo.
ARTE DEL SIGLO XX
1.- La arquitectura del movimiento moderno. Racionalismo: Le Corbusier. Organicismo: Frank Lloyd Wright.
2.- Escultura: innovaciones en materiales y técnicas.
3.- La pintura. Las vanguardias históricas: Fauvismo, Cubismo, Expresionismo alemán, Dadaísmo, Surrealismo y la abstracción.
La arquitectura, definida como el «arte indispensable», se sustancia durante este siglo en dos grandes corrientes: una europea, denominada «racionalismo», que tendrá en los arquitectos de la Bauhaus y en Le Corbusier a sus principales intérpretes; y otra norteamericana, llamada «organicismo», cuyo protagonista indiscutible es Frank Lloyd Wright. Señalar la filosofía y las características de ambas corrientes.
Por lo que respecta a la escultura de este siglo, explicar al alumno la importancia del «hueco» y el «cinetismo» como grandes innovaciones plásticas. Estúdiense estas innovaciones a través de la obra de Julio González, Pablo Gargallo y Alexander Calder.
Sobre los «ismos» matizar los orígenes del nombre con que se designa a cada uno de los movimientos conocidos como la vanguardia histórica: Fauvismo (Matisse), Expresionismo alemán (Kandinsky), Cubismo (Picasso), Dadaísmo (Duchamp) Surrealismo (Dalí) y la abstracción (Pollock).
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La obra que hemos escogido como encabezamiento es la «Palas Atenea imponiendo la Paz entre el Oficio y la Industria» de Federico Amutio y Amil. Se trata de un óleo sobre lienzo que mide 110 x 170 cm. Se pintó para la sala denominada «La Cacharrería» del Ateneo de Madrid, donde se conserva. Esta obra debió realizarse por 1885.
Esta descripción incorpora datos procedentes de la página web del Ateneo de Madrid:
www.ateneodemadrid.com/index.php/esl/Agenda/Pieza-del-mes...
La ilustración procede de la siguiente página web:
Sculpture in Context is Ireland's largest outdoor sculpture exhibition. It offers an unparalleled opportunity to view well-established and promising future artists from both Ireland and abroad. Each year an independent panel of selectors is invited to adjudicate this open exhibition, resulting in an exciting mix of mediums and styles.
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Hôtel de Ville de Paris orné d'affiches monumentales dans le cadre d'une exposition publique.
Détails de l'Œuvre et de l'Exposition
Bâtiment : L'image présente la façade de l'Hôtel de Ville, le bâtiment administratif de la capitale française, situé sur la place du même nom, anciennement connue sous le nom de Place de Grève.
Œuvre d'Art : Les bannières présentent une œuvre de l'artiste de street art américain Shepard Fairey, plus connu sous le nom d'Obey. Les affiches utilisent ses tons emblématiques de rouge, bleu et crème, et comportent des slogans percutants, notamment "RESIST" et "UNITE EARTH", visibles sur la façade.
Contexte de l'Événement : Cette installation a eu lieu dans le cadre de l'exposition « De Paris à Belém : 10 ans d'action mondiale pour le climat », qui s'est tenue à l'Hôtel de Ville pour célébrer l'Accord de Paris sur le climat. L'exposition visait à mettre en lumière l'action climatique mondiale une décennie après la signature de l'accord en 2015.
SAN MARTIN PALACE
Formerly Anchorena Palace, San Martín Palace (Palacio San Martín in Spanish) is located in Plaza San Martín in the heart of Buenos Aires.
The San Martin Palace holds three private residences within a unique context. Its original owners were the Anchorena - Castellanos family, that occupied the residence at the corner of Arenales and Esmeralda with their children, whose respective families lived in the other two residences.
The building was acquired by the Argentine government in 1936 and it served as the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture, At present it serves as the Ceremonial Headquarters for the Ministry.
Excerpt from buenosairestimes.com
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BUENOS AIRES ARCHITECTURE
Buenos Aires architecture is characterized by its eclectic nature, with elements resembling Barcelona, Paris and Madrid. Italian and French influences increased after the declaration of independence at the beginning of the 19th century, though the academic style persisted until the first decades of the 20th century.
Attempts at renovation took place during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when European influences penetrated into the country, reflected by several buildings of Buenos Aires such as the Iglesia Santa Felicitas by Ernesto Bunge; the Palace of Justice, the National Congress, and the Teatro Colón, all of them by Vittorio Meano.
The simplicity of the Rioplatense baroque style can be clearly seen in Buenos Aires through the works of Italian architects such as André Blanqui and Antonio Masella, in the churches of San Ignacio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Cathedral and the Cabildo.
The architecture of the second half of the 20th century continued to reproduce French neoclassic models, such as the headquarters of the Banco de la Nacion Argentina built by Alejandro Bustillo, and the Museo Hispanoamericano de Buenos Aires of Martín Noel
Since the 1930s, the influence of Le Corbusier and European rationalism consolidated in a group of young architects from the University of Tucumán, among whom Amancio Williams stands out. The construction of skyscrapers proliferated in Buenos Aires until the 1950s.
Newer modern high-technology buildings by Argentine architects in the last years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st include the Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía and the Repsol-YPF tower by César Pelli.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sculpture In Context 2018 Exhibition is still ongoing for another few weeks at the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin.
Ken Drew is an Irish sculpture based in Blackrock county Dublin.
Visit Ken at: www.kendrewsculpture.com
Going forward I have some decisions to make. Do I stick 100% with Sony and pay very high prices for their lenses or do I go with two systems in parallel by getting a Fuji X-T3. The X-T3 complete with kit lens and grip will cost Euro 2200 which is about Euro 300 less than the Sony 16-35mm GM lens.
The other solution is to purchase third party manual primes such as the Voigtlander range of E-Mount lenses which is why I used the Voigtlander 15mm today. It is not easy to use but it is small, inexpensive [relative to Sony glass] and produces nice results buy I am told that many of the Fuji lenses are better.
Canelons de Sant Esteve. Serveixen dues meitats per barba (un caneló complet), quantitat més que suficient en el context d'aquest menú però escassa si tenim en compte la seva qualitat. Un farciment luxuriós, una beixamel abundant però ben lligada i un bon gratinat configuren els canelons gairebé perfectes. Excel·lents.
Client/Context: speculative architecture
Architecture is agent or conspirator in the shaping of space--from the purity of the ‘tabula rasa’ or ‘degree zero’ condition to the distracted in between conditions of ‘non-space’ and the conspiratorial interconnections of ‘mesh space’ to breathing organic spaces, to ‘ubiquitous’ or intelligent spaces that talk back, evolve or regenerate. Is it possible that the buildings constructed in service to society’s social and spatial occupations/narratives have occupations/narratives of their own? If architecture is positioned as the protagonist or primary agent, what are the driving narratives shaping it and space today?
Challenge: A(rchi)topia Book
Use your previous challenge scenarios as a basis to script a fictional work casting architecture and the city as protagonists.
Rules: Design a fictional work/narrative. The format may be original or borrowed from graphic novel/manga or a written text. In this work you are to speculate about architecture, the city, and society. Review and analyze your 1-9 challenge production for overlapping or latent interests/themes to organize an architectural thesis, argument or fantasy.
Format: 9”w X 7”h paperback book layout. Book to include: Title page (include name/studio), Table of Contents, A(rchi)topia introduction/definition, A(rchi)topia with 9 challenges, Challenge Index. As a way of working try storyboarding your architectural narrative in serial frames (drawings/3-D models).
Book Format: 9 x 7 landscape paperback portfolio layout/full bleed/perfect bound/full color lulu.com print ready pdfs
Resource: lulu
Additional Resources: Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino
Graphic Novels: Ben Katchor / Julius Knipl Series, Metropolis Magazine column; Sin City Series, Frank Miller, Dark Horse Comics; Ghost in the Shell, Masamune Shirow
Fiction: Babel-17, Samuel Delaney; Neuromancer, William Gibson, The Disposessed, Ursula LeGuin
Architecture: Various Architectural Monographs/projects by: Lebbeus Woods; The Peak, Zaha Hadid; Bernard Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcripts; New Babylon, Constant; Fun Palace, Cedric Price; Walking City, Ron Herron; Plug-In City, Peter Cook; Villa Radieuse, Le Corbusier; Broadacre City, Frank Lloyd Wright, Cite Industrielle, Tony Garnier
Films: Metropolis, Fritz Lang, 1927; Tron, Steven Lisberger, 1982; Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, 1995 ; Dark City, Alex Proyas, 1998; Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki, 2001; Sin City, Robert Rodriguez, 2005; Renaissance, Christian Volckman, 2006.
Start Monday 26 November - Finish Friday 7 December / 2pm / Avery Rm 300
See all the projects at Runaway Project Studio
COPY
Repository: Penn Libraries
Call number: Folio PR2751 .A1
Copy title: Mr. VVilliam Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies : published according to the true originall copies.
Author(s): Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.
Published: England London., 1623
Printer/Publisher: Printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Ed. Blount, 1623.
FIND IN POP
BALANCED SCALE:
My image has three essential parts: the reader, the text, and the context. I used a balance scale (drawn in red, and admittedly, not exactly balanced), to show the relationship between these parts. On one end of the scale, there is the reader/student. Prior to any content class, it is EXTREMELY likely that a student has already been assessed (multiple times throughout his/her academic career) to determine his/her mastery of specific reading skills and strategies. Assessments typically include a wide range of 1 on 1 assessments, as well as scores from standardized tests. While the data gathered in assessment is certainly helpful to get a sense of a student’s reading ability, it is NOT the only factor that comes into play. A student’s ability to handle content literacy is greatly affected by the student’s interests, motivations, prior experiences, background knowledge, and self-perception. On the other end of the scale, there is a “content area” book. Note that the scale is balanced, which reflects the importance of the text being at the student’s level. Readability scales and formulas can help to get a general sense of how a student might handle a text, but again, it is only one factor of a much larger picture. The relationship between a student and the text is dependent on the context, which is why CONTEXT appears as the fulcrum (the triangle). The context is typically shaped by the teacher. In my image, I highlight some of the decisions a teacher might make that would affect the scale.