Early European & Colonial Armericas 3.2

Early European and Colonial Americas

200- 1750

Interactions Within and Across Cultures in Early European and  Colonial American Art

A variety of factors leads to and motivates interaction between and among cultures, and this interaction may influence art and art making. Such cultural interaction may result from factors including, but not limited to, travel, trade, war, conquest, and/or colonization. It may include forms of artistic influence such as spolia, appropriation, and stylistic revivals, among other expressions of cultural exchange.

Influences on Medieval Artists and Architects

Continuities and exchanges between coexisting traditions in medieval Europe are evident in shared artistic forms, functions, and techniques. Medieval artists and architects were heavily influenced by earlier  and contemporary cultures, including coexisting European cultures.

Early medieval and Byzantine art were  influenced by Roman art and by motifs and techniques brought by migratory tribes from eastern Europe, West Asia, and Scandinavia.

High medieval art was influenced by Roman, Islamic, and migratory art. European Islamic art was influenced by Roman, migratory Byzantine, and West Asian art. Cultural and artistic exchanges were facilitated through trade and conquest.

Before the late Middle Ages, the coexistence of many regional styles makes period-wide generalizations impossible. Isolated regional revivals of naturalism and classicism occurred, sometimes motivated by the association of classicism with the Roman Christian emperors and church. Other traditions, such as those of European Islamic art and early medieval migratory art, embraced calligraphic line and script, as well as dense geometrical and organic ornament.

The Age of Exploration

The advent of the Age of Exploration in the late 15th century resulted in the emergence of global commercial and cultural networks via transoceanic trade and colonization. European ideas, forms, and practices began to be disseminated worldwide as a  direct result of exploration, trade, conquest, and colonization.

Art production in the Spanish viceroyalties in the Americas exhibited a hybridization of European and indigenous ideas, forms, and materials, with some African and Asian influences. Although much colonial art is religious, nonreligious subjects—such as portraiture, allegory, genre, history, and decorative arts—were central to Spanish viceregal societies.

Art production in the Spanish viceroyalties paralleled European art practices in terms of themes, materials, formal vocabulary, display, and reception. However, given the Spanish Catholic context in which this art production developed, Spanish colonial art of the early modern period corresponded more closely to that of southern Europe.

(3) 49. Santa Sabina

Late Antique Europe. 422-432 CE. Late Roman Empire (Early Christian).

Learning Objective: Late Roman / Early Christian Church

Themes:

Light
Architecture
Place of worship
Religion
Appropriation
Biblical
Commemoration

The building for Santa Sabina was constructed by Peter of Illyria, in Rome, Italy. It is made of brick and stone, with a wooden roof.  The exterior is bare, simple, and unadorned.

This Christian architecture was adapted from a Roman basilica. The building’s shape and design signified government authority, thanks to the Roman predecessors. The basilica’s association with law and justice pairs well with the Christian belief of the last judgement.

Interior Features

Santa Sabina can accommodate a vast  number of people. It has one single entrance and exit point. The vantage point upon entering is the altar.

A dominant central axis leads from the entrance to the apse. Corinthian columns produce a steady rhythm along the arcade that draws all attention on the apse.  The central space has a nave, flanked by side aisles, where you can see columns that line the nave.

A spolia is a repurposed architectural piece. In this case, it is the columns used from a pagan building and repurposed.

The clerestory, a row of windows along the top, emits light. These are not filled with stained glass but selenite, a colourless, transparent gypsum. The stained glass that is visible was added later. Light is a symbol of Christ, with an emphasis is on the spiritual, and intangible.

The interior ceiling is simple with a coffer technique to lighten the wood.

A Church Dedicated to Saint Sabina

This Roman Catholic church is dedicated to Saint Sabina. In 430, her relics were brought to Santa Sabina. The exterior is meant to display the grit and corruption of the human body. The interior is bright, glittering with mosaics, and light, as if it displays the human soul.

A Look at the Details

Inside this Basilica-plan church are spandrels or spaces between the tops of arches. This depicts chalices and bread plates. It references the Eucharist, a ceremony in the church when people take communion. Here bread and wine symbolize body and blood.

Historical Background of Christianity

Constantine legalized Christianity with the Edit of Milan in 313 CE. Christians can then worship in public spaces. Large numbers of people convert, as the religion grows.

(3) 50. Vienna Genesis

Byzantine. Early 6^th century. Byzantine.

Learning Objective: Byzantine illuminated manuscript.

Themes:

Text and image
Biblical
Religion
Status
Human and divine
Materials with significance

Museum: Located in Vienna

Vienna Genesis is a Byzantine, illuminated manuscript on purple vellum, painted with tempera, gold, and silver.  It measures 12 inches by 9 inches. There is text, written in Greek on the top, with corresponding images below. Of the 192 pages only 48 survive. It is the earliest well-preserved manuscript with biblical scenes.

Illuminated refers to both the vibrancy of the colour as well as the enlightenment the viewer experiences while reading the text.

Vellum is calfskin. The reason calves were used was for the suppleness of the animal’s skin. Once slaughtered, the animal’s hide was soaked in lime water. Then the fur was removed and hung to dry.

The pages were originally purple, which was an expensive dye. The lettering was silver, but now is tarnished.

The Images

Images a use continuous narrative that bends upon itself. The figures are elongated . There is a skewed perspective. The use of space is not realistic.  All these factors are typical of the time.

First Book of the Old Testament

This manuscript is the first book of the Old Testament,  the Book of Genesis. It was made for prayer and to preserve Biblical stories.

Before the 15^th century and the invention of printing, books were handmade and therefore expensive. This, along with the materials used the create Vienna Genesis, indicates a wealthy patron. The work would have been viewed as a symbol of status.

The Stories in the Book

SUB-IMAGE 1: Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well (Genesis 24: 15-61)

Rebecca leaves the city of Nahor to fetch water from a well, where she meets Eliezer collecting water for his camels. Eliezer is asked by Abraham to help his son Isaac find a wife.

Rebecca is matched with Isaac. The couple have children, Esau, and Jacob.

This is a story about God intervening to ensure a sound marriage for Abraham’s son.

SUB-IMAGE 2: Jacob Wrestling the Angel ( Genesis 32: 22-31)

Jacob, dressed in brown, leads his family across a bridge, over a river, on the back of a donkey.

Jacob becomes separated from his family. He and a man have a disagreement and they fight violently. Jacob’s hip is injured. The man is  really an angel in disguise, testing Jacob’s stamina and perseverance. An important transformation occurs as the angle blesses Jacob. The angle changes Jacob’s name to Israel and tells him he will be a patriarch.

Classical Elements

The artist uses classical elements in the book through the use of illustration.  In the story of Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well,  the river is personified by a female semi-nude figure, just like depictions of classical goddesses.

In Jacob Wrestling the Angel, the bridge the family crosses has Roman columns and arches.

The drawings show drapery in the fabric with a sense of a figure underneath, like classical sculpturers.

(3) 52. Hagia Sophia

Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. Byzantine. 532-537 CE. Constantinople. Byzantine.

Learning Objective: Byzantine central/basilica churchThemes:

Religion
Architecture
Innovation
Appropriation
Place of worship
Power
Light
Rulers
Propaganda

Hagia Sophia, was built in Constantinople, Turkey, in what today is Istanbul.  The structure uniquely combines a basilica structure measuring 240 feet by 240 feet, with an enormous dome measuring 108 feet tall. The architecture was created using brick, ceramic elements, stone, and mosaic veneer.

The architects on the project were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus.

Architectural Planning

The central plan has a hemispherical dome placed onto a square base. The basilica plan was created by adding a narthex and lengthening the building on one side so that it is no longer a square.

The dome was not made of concrete like the Romans typically designed. The Hagia Sophia architects used four pendentives to transfer the weight from the great dome to the piers beneath, rather than the walls.  Pendentives are curved triangle vaulting formed by the intersection of a dome, with supporting arches.

Spolia or repurposed marble columns from Rome were incorporated.

Letting the Light In

There are 40 closely set windows that were cut at the base of the dome. When viewed it appears that the dome is being supported by a radius of light. The windows were framed with highly polished mosaic pieces, lending to the quality of light.

Interior Decorative Elements

Imported marble with large, colorful, veins line the floors and walls, creating great movement and energy.

Stone that was not marble was once decorated in mosaic patterns of acanthus leaves, palm leaves and crosses. This would have heightened the opulence and added a reflective quality.

The History of the Space

Constantine built a church here that was burned down in a fire.  Justinian admired Constantine and felt drawn to their similarities. Both were Christian emperors. Justinian in fact was the greatest emperor of the Byzantine empire.

Justinian decided to rebuild the church after claiming to see the finished building appear to him in a dream. His biggest concern was building a fireproof church!

Hagia Sophia was a symbol of Byzantine superiority over the Pantheon and pagan Rome through art and culture.

The name of the church means Saint Sophia. The word Sophia wisdom or Church of Holy Wisdom. It was later converted to a mosque, in 1453 (appropriation) and the Ottoman conquest. Then, the minarets and calligraphic roundels were added.  The roundels say the names of Muhammad, Allah, and the close family members of Muhammad.

Timelines in Focus

324: Constantine founded Constantinople as the new capital of Rome.

476: Fall of Western Rome and definite split of the two empires. Byzantines remain strong.

• Justinian, following the lead of Constantine, proclaimed Christianity to be the only lawful religion.
• Constantine’s Edict of Milan declared that Christianity was a tolerated religion
• Justinian expanded borders of his empire.
• Justinian defined Byzantine art, literature, Greek Orthodox dogma
• Architects were mathematicians. They were able to pull off the largest dome ever constructed at this time.

1453: Minarets were added when it was transferred by the Ottomans to a mosque after the conquest by Sultan Mehmed II

About the Architects

Isidorus of Miletus was born in Miletus during the 6^th century. He was a scholar and an architect, who founded an engineering school in the Byzantine Empire.

Anthemius of Tralles was a writer and architect, who taught geometry at the University of Constantine.

Both men had been students of the famous mathematician Proclus. Both had had successful careers as architects, individually, before Emperor Justinian heard about them.

For the Hagia Sophia project, they oversaw 100 architects, each of whom had 100 workers.  The building was completed in 5 years, 10 months, and 4 days.

(3) 56. Great Mosque of Córdoba.

Islamic (Umayyad). Begun 785-786 CE. Córdoba, Spain. Islamic.

Learning Objective: Moorish hypostyle mosque

Themes:

Place of worship
Architecture
Cross-cultural
Appropriation

The Great Mosque of Córdoba, stands in Córdoba, Spain. This magnificent architectural structure is made from stone masonry.

It was built here for the practical reason. The land was already available and flat. The site was recognized as an important structure.

An entire town was built around it. The work was used to show religious and cultural supremacy over the Romans.

The Plan

The floor plan is the one of three kinds for mosques: Hypostyle Hall, Four-Iwan, Central Plan.

The main building is comprised of the hypostyle hall. Using repeated geometry, the hall seems larger than it is.  There are 514 double-horseshoe-arch columns, with alternating red and white voussoirs. Columns are Roman spolia from the temple here. Horseshoe arches are common feature of Visigoth Spanish architecture, which was then adopted by Muslims in Spain.

Qiblah wall and mihrab are designated on the back wall. Mihrabs typically face Mecca and the Kaaba which is what Muslims must specifically direct their prayers towards. However, this mosque does not face Mecca. It seems to be a mistake on the original understanding of geography by the Muslims who built it. In addition, it was originally a church and Muslims were not able to change the foundation to reorient the mosque towards Mecca.

Function

The Great Mosque of Córdoba is a place for worship, prayer, and contemplation. Hypostyle hall mosque encourages the viewer to contemplate the space and to seek out the qiblah wall which contains the mihrab. Here they must direct prayer.  to the mihrab

A Closer Look at the Great Mosque of Córdoba.

The courtyard contained a fountain, a covered walkway encircling the courtyard, a minaret, and an orange grove. Oranges were symbols of Cordobans.

Qiblah wall is the wall that people must find because it points towards the Kaaba in Mecca.  It also contains the mihrab. This is an empty arch on the qiblah wall. Mosque-goers pray towards this, not to this. It is an empty arch because there can be no images of religious figures represented in Muslim religion.

Historical Background

This is an example of Moorish culture. Muslims once ruled over Spain, or Al-Andalus as it was called in Arabic.

Cordoban Caliphate began with exiles from the previous caliphate, Umayyads. Established by Abd al-Rahman I, who ran away to Spain and established control over Iberia, he sponsored elaborate building programs. This became the center of a brilliant Golden Age for Isla.

Great Mosque of Córdoba is one of the oldest structures still standing from when the Muslims ruled Al-Andalus.

There was originally a temple on the site to Janus, the Roman god of time, both past and future. It was converted into a church by Visigoths, in 572 CE.  Then, it was made into a mosque. Following this, it was totally rebuilt by the Cordoban Caliphate. Later, it was made into a Gothic church, with buttresses and pointed vaults added. A Renaissance style nave was eventually constructed.

Today, it is still a Catholic church.  Beginning in early 2000s, Muslims petitioned the Church to allow them to worship here and have since been consistently denied.

(3)69. David.

Donatello. Italian. 1440-1460 CE. 15^th century. Italian Renaissance.

Learning Objective :  15^th century. Southern Italian sculpture

Themes:

Ideal man
Biblical
Politics
Power
Propaganda
Revival of tradition
Materials with significance
Sexuality
Appropriation
Civic
Public
Private

Museum: Bargello in Florence, Italy

David, a work by artist Donatello, is a nude, sculpture-in-the-round, made of bronze, in a revival of classical techniques. Lost-wax casting was used to create this hollow sculpture.

The work depicts an ideal form of a man, and it is almost life sized at  5 feet 3 inches tall. Smoothness achieved on the skin helps create a sense of suppleness and eroticism.  Contrapposto gives it a sense of movement.

The Function of Donatello’s David

 The Medici family commissioned the work to be housed in the Medici Palace. Both the artist and family were interested in a revival of the classics. Yet, it is not apparent which member of the family requested the sculpture.

The work was not for public viewing.  It could, however,  be viewed from the street through the opening gate to the Medici courtyard and home. This biblical subject was used to achieve political motives of the Medici.

The Battle Between Florence and Milan

In 1428, there was a great battle between Florence, a mercantile republic, and Milan, a military autocracy. The Florentines were not expected to win, but they did. As the underdogs, they claimed God was on their side.

While Florence might have been a republic in name, the Medici clan ruled Florence. They placed multiple family members and allies in governmental positions. while ruling the city corruptly.

Henceforth, the Medici family began to affiliate themselves with the biblical figure David.  In the Bible, David is a king, with a long rule, who is enormously wise. The symbolism was David represented Florence, which equalled the Medici family. In opposition, Goliath was Milan and the Duke.

Appropriation

Florence ousted the Medici family and used the same political metaphor against them. Once the Medici clan was exiled, Florence, city officials took the statue of David and moved it to the city hall.

The family were absent between 1494-1512. After, when they returned to retake the city, they did not pretend to be a republic anymore. They became an autocracy.

The Story of David

In the Old Testament, David, is a young Hebrew shepherd, who slayed Goliath, with a simple sling shot.  He was the only one brave enough. David knew he could do it, with God’s help.

Donatello picked that moment in the story to portray his triumphant David. The emphasis is not on bravery, but rather on success.

• David’s stance is nonchalant, jaunty, and assured though his head is lowered to suggest humility.
• Right hand: holds Goliath’s own sword–notches have been nicked out of it from many battles and it is rough bronze.
• Left hand holds a rock used to slay Goliath
• David stands on Goliath’s decapitated head as a sign of total supremacy.
• David wears a soft hat, rather than a helmet like we might expect, and boots.

Why is David Nude?

Many have asked this question. Surely, David was not nude when he defeated Goliath. This is Heroic nudity in art. It implies morality, truth, and virtue. David is not considered a “true nude” however. He still wears a hat and boots!

Does this nudity also lead to some eroticism? Are there homoerotic overtones? Or is this depiction of an adolescent just typical for the period? Donatello was gay so this has led historians to question this work.

David is something of an androgynous figure. David’s body is that of an adolescent – not really a boy but certainly not a man yet. There is a softness, and an emphasis on the curvature of his body. The delicacy of his hat emphasizes an effeminate nature about him. The feather from Goliath’s helmet runs up David’s leg to touch his buttocks.

The Sculpture in Context

This work was created because of the classical revival’s interest in humanism.

For 1,000 years, since the fall of Rome, the Christians had looked at the soul, as the focus of what art should be about. The body was seen as a source of sin, and it was not to be celebrated. The body was thought to be the sources of original sin. Think Adam and Eve in Garden of Eden.

Returning to the ancient Greek and Roman love and respect for the body was now viewed as radical. This was the first life sized, freestanding, bronze, nude sculpture since antiquity.

About Donatello

Florentine artist, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi,(1386-1466) known as Donatello, was a master in sculpture using both marble and bronze.  

Donatello is best known for David, but other famous works include Equestrian Statue of Gattamelate, Penitent Magdalene, and Saint George.

 

(3) 70. Palazzo Rucellai

Leon Battista Alberti. Italian. 1450 CE. Florence, Italy. 15^th century. Italian Renaissance.

Learning Objective: 15^th century. Southern domestic space

Themes:

Domestic
Architecture
Private
Status
Appropriation
Revival of tradition
Commercial

The Colosseum is the inspiration for the stone and masonry façade of Palazzo Rucellai, in Florence, Italy, by architect Leon Battista Alberti. Both use tripartite division of exterior and architectural features for decorative purposes,  rather than structural support. The order of columns changes from least decorative to most decorative, or heaviest to lightest.

There is a tripartite façade on three stories. Each floor decreases in actual height and perceived “weight” as it goes.  With a clear progression from floor to floor, there is a classical sense of proportion.  stringcourses divide the floor with long horizontal molding.

The first floor is heavily rusticated to express the fortitude of the family. It uses the Tuscan order in its pilasters, with larger stones that are harder edged and square.

The second floor rises in lightness, by moving to Composite pilasters  of Ionic and Corinthian and rounded arches.

The third floor is the shortest, with less articulation. It uses Corinthian order in its pilasters and smaller stones used. Heavy cornice caps the roof.

The palazzo was created by using eight existing houses that were gutted and unified on the façade.

Why was the Palazzo Created ?

This was built to be a private home for the wealthy Florentine merchants, the Rucellai family. It was a display of status, wealth, and power. It symbolises a Renaissance desire for rationality, order, and classicism.

Frieze carvings contained billowing sails which were the symbol of the Ruccelai. The family wanted to base the building on ancient Rome architecture and the Colosseum. They felt a connection to Rome and desired to have their family members reach the ranks of cardinals and even Popes.

Inside the Florentine Palazzo

The first floor was where business was conducted. On the second floor the family received guests. The third floor was used for private family rooms. The fourth floor was hidden from the exterior and housed the servants.

About Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) was an Italian author, artist, architect, poet, philosopher, and humanist. As was the first Italian architect to study Roman architecture in depth, he travelled to Rome, where the Colosseum had a great influence on his work.

Alberti wrote De Re Aedificatoria, containing his thoughts on ideal architecture. He developed his style, by adding classical elements to contemporary buildings and advocated a system of ideal proportions. A point of argument for Alberti was that the arch and column commonly used in Gothic churches, was incongruous.

 

(3) 74. Adam and Eve.

Albrecht Dürer. German. 1504 CE. 16^th century. Northern Renaissance.

Learning Objective: 16^th century. Northern engraving

Themes:

Print
Biblical
Religion
Cross-cultural
Iconography
Animals
Text and image
Commercial

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and more prints in other museums

This work by German artist Albrecht Dürer is an engraving of Adam and Eve, measuring 10 by 8 inches. The artist shows off his talent in this difficult medium.

How was this Engraving Made?

An image is carved or incised, into the surface of a metal plate using a burin. This object is a tool, with a flat round top that fits into the palm of the hand. It has a short, sharp tip. The width and depth of the engraved line depends upon the angle the tool is used.

Once the surface is cut it is covered with ink. This pools into the incised area. The ink is then wiped away from the surface. The surface is then applied to paper with pressure.

The work uses hatching and cross-hatching to show value.  Hatching is a bunch of hatches or lines grouped together that are all going in the same direction. Cross-hatching is when groups of hatches cross over other hatches.

The artist’s monogram is included on the bottom corner of the sign in the work.

Influences

The nude figures were influenced by Italian art. The bodies are frontal and stand in contrapposto. Based on Vitruvian’s canon of proportions, where the face determines the proportions for the rest of the body. The  etching was inspired by two sculptures:  Apollo Belvedere and Medici Venus.

Adam and Eve is an early example of the muscular, and contrapposto human form, in the North. The bodies, both male and female are idealized. Notice too the use of Latin and a reference to the Four Humors, an ancient Greek theory.

The Northern use of extraordinary minute detail and dark woods and cliffs are part of the beauty of this work.  Iconography plays a major role here  too.

The  work is signed and proudly identifies the artist (Albert Dvrer Noricvs) as a citizen of Nuremberg (Noricus) in  a very northern style but is written in Latin, and Italian style.

Why was this Created?

Once an engraving was crafted, prints could be easily copied and disseminated to the religiously devout. The idea was promoted about temptation and sin.

What is this Engraving About?

Adam and Eve stand together in a dense, dark forest, right before the Fall of Man. This acts to humanize religion.

The Four Humors:

The Four Humors are a classical medical philosophy that maintained humans have four humors. When these are in balance, our personalities are perfectly at ease. When one of these is greater than the others, our personalities change.

Christians believed that in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall of Man, all the humors were balanced. After the Fall, Christians believed that one humor predominated in everyone, throwing our temperaments into imbalance.

Iconography

Here are some of the symbols in Adam and Eve along with what they mean.

• Snake: symbolizes the devil
• Parrot: these birds were collector’s items in Germany and the noise they make– “Eve Ave” – sounded similar to Eve and Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
• Goat: reference to a scapegoat, standing precariously on his mountain perch balancing before the fall.
• Cat: symbolizes Christ, must catch the devil (mouse)
• Mouse: represents Satan (Remember Merode Altarpiece’s mousetrap)
• Yellow bile (angry): Cat
• Black bile (melancholic): Elk
• Blood (energetic): Rabbit
• Phlegm (lethargic): Ox
• Eve’s hair: long, curly, hair worn down symbolizes sexual energy as she takes the apple
• Adam’s hair: curly too, he may succumb to the same sexuality as Eve does

About the Artist

 In true Renaissance fashion Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a master painter, printer, goldsmith, art theorist and human scholar. Born in Nürnberg, Germany, he first apprenticed with his father who was a goldsmith. Next painting called and he apprenticed in the studio of Michael Wolgemut for three years. Eventually he returned home to set up his own studio.

He was enthralled by Italy, and travelled there often. He was nicknamed the “Leonardo of North” for introducing Northerners to Italian conventions.

Besides Adam and Eve, other famous works the artist created in his lifetime include: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Self Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, Young Hair, The Feast of the Rosary, Praying Hands, Melencolia I, and The Rhinocerus.

(3) 84. Mosque of Selim II

Sinan. Islamic (Ottoman). 1568-1575 CE. Dome: 31 meters across. Islamic.

Learning Objective: Central plan mosque

Themes:

Place of worship
Appropriation
Community
Power
Architecture
Religion
Propaganda
Rulers

Mosque of Selim II, located in Edirne, Turkey, is a building made of brick and stone, with a dome measuring 31 meters across.  This mosque is designed in a Central Plan, which is one type of three mosque types. The other two types are Hypostyle Hall and Four-Iwan.

The Exterior

The exterior has elegantly stacked domes with towering minarets or pencil minarets. Muezzin, or the person who will lead the prayer would call everyone to prayer from the minarets.

Here, a complex system of buttresses were used to hold up the massive weight of the dome. It is over 101 feet across, which is larger than Hagia Sophia’s dome.

The building consists of 384 windows.

The Interior

The dome rests upon eight piers. The architect used squinches to transfer a circle into an octagon. There is Aniconic decoration with mosaic tessellation, or repetition of geometric design. The alternating red and white voussoirs are typical for Islamic architecture.

The mihrab is visible from almost any spot in the building even though it is not under the middle dome. It is pushed back into an apse-like alcove. Again, centrally planned spaces are symbolic and work nicely to unite people but are not actually designed to accommodate prayers or organized activities.

The muezzin, or prayer leader, had has platform under the center of the dome .

In this floor plan, at the front of the mosque sits a rectangular court, with an area equal to that of the mosque.

The Function

The mosque  is a place for prayer, contemplation, and community. Politically, mosques were a way for the Ottomans to show they had beat the Byzantine Empire.  It also symbolized Islam over Christianity.

The mosque’s design was based on Hagia Sophia. It was a statement of triumph to both the patron,  and the architect.

About the Patron and Location

Ottoman Sultan Selim II, the new Ottoman ruler, was the son of Son of Suleyman the Magnificent, who brought the Ottomans to the greatest territorial height. This mosque was built at the peak of Ottoman power in the Middle East.

When the ruler commissioned the work, he chose this spot specifically for the mosque. It was on the highest and would dominate the skyline.

Edirne, where the mosque is located, was the capital city of the Ottomans. It was the westernmost Ottoman city. For Europeans who may have encountered the city, it strategically made a good first impression.

This was the center of the community. The mosque had a school, or madrasas for studying Prophet Muhammad and his sayings. There was also a market, soup kitchen, bath, hospital, hospice, and cemetery.  The mosque was the meeting point to draw everyone together.

About the Architect

Sinan was a hugely famous and successful architect. He served four sultans over the course of his career, which made him wealthy. Sinan owned 77 properties, including 40 shops, inns, and Turkish baths.

The Mosque of Selim II is considered his great masterpiece.

Fun Fact: American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, wrote in his book: ‘Two architects have come on earth. The first one is the Ottoman architect Sinan and the other one is myself.”

(3) 90. Angel with Arquebus Asiel Timor Dei.

Master of Calamarca (La Paz School). New Spain. 17^th century.

Learning Objective: 17^th century Southern Baroque New Spanish Counter Reformation painting

Themes :

Religion
Violence
Propaganda
Cross-cultural
Deities

Museum: Museo Nacional de Arte in La Paz, Bolivia.

Angel with Arquebus Asiel Timor Dei, an oil on canvass work, with gilding, measuring 5 feet 4 inches by 3 feet 6 inches was painted by Master of Calamarca (La Paz School). It may have been created by Jose de la Rios.

Established artists were unable to leave Europe and their wealthy patrons to move to the Americas. La Paz School workshop was known for crafting works of well dressed of angels carrying guns. This combined the celestial, aristocratic and military all at once!

Baroque Meets Mannerism

Angel with Arquebus, Asiel Timor Dei has graceful figures and a decorative and extravagant design just like Baroque. Yet, the elongation and extended lines of angel’s body recalls the Mannerist style, still preferred in the 17^th century Americas.

Function

This work would have been part of a larger series of various angels.  The audience was native, mostly Inca and indigenous tribes, of Catholic, Protestant, or indigenous religions.

An armed angel represented the idea of divine protection over faithful Christians and the need for Catholics to defend their faith. It represented both Catholic and Spanish power over indigenous peoples. This was meant to take the place of native deities and promote Catholicism within the New World.

Understanding this Painting

Asiel indicates the name of the angel, and a quality of “Fears God”. The androgynous angel is stunningly attired. The pose is based off a series of Dutch engravings of military positions and guns.

The clothing combines contemporary European aristocratic fashion with Inca nobility fashion. The broad-brimmed hat, billowing sleeves and tights are European.  The ornate clothing and feathered hat were Inca. Feathers were a sign of gods.

A harquebus is a firearm with a long barrel, created by the Spanish in the 15^th century. This gun, that rested on the shoulder, was considered the height of firearm technology.  Firearms did not exist in Americas prior to colonization, so natives associated them with the supernatural.

The Background Story

This work was painted in the Spanish colony of Peru.  Images like these were widespread and popular throughout the Andes and used to promote the Christianization of indigenous peoples.  There were not many Protestants in the New World. This allowed Catholics to increase their numbers.

The Christian missionary orders persistently sought to end indigenous practices and promote Catholicism. Catholic Reformation promoted a militaristic ideology that portrayed the Church as an army and its followers as soldiers. Violence was justified in defence of the Catholic faith.

Council of Trent had only allowed depictions of angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael for clarity of message. In the New World this was ignored.

UP NEXT:

Early European and Colonial Americas

200- 1750

Topic 3.3 Materials, Processes, and Techniques in Early European and Colonial American Art