Intent: to visit the Birmingham Museum of Art and observe different cultural perspectives of what is considered as art. I would count this in the art and leisure category.Plan of action: meet up with classmates Shawna and Linda at the Humanities Building of UAB and ride together to the museum.
Detail:
The three of us entered the museum and visited every open exhibit. Several of them bore special interest for me: The Medieval, Renaissance, and Japanese art. When observing the art of Medieval Europe, I noticed that there was separate recognition of art from Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Linda had foreknowledge concerning the differences and she shared with us why they were significant. Catholics often used statues of saints while Orthodox leaders leaned more toward portraits because they believed that people would be less inclined to see a painting as an idol and worship it as they would for a statue. Idol worship is against the highest beliefs of Christianity. The Renaissance art showed a return to classic Greek-Roman mythology and deeper exploration of Biblical stories. Renaissance artists had a fascination with the human body's form. I had familiarity with the Japanese art; I recognized the iconic images of the 47 ronin in several paintings. The ronin, "men of waves" or masterless samurai, are famous in the Japanese cultural consciousness for their display of devotion to their fallen lord and claiming revenge for him 8 years after his death. The museum exhibited some samurai armor, weapons, and and statues. I had a moment of nostalgia being separated from them only by glass. Staring at the beautifully designed armor, I came to think that the men who wore them had to realize they were going to die in them. Then it struck me that the armor was decorated with that in mind. The samurai wanted to look distinctive and majestic when they died because death in battle was the highest honor in their society. Samurai even put flower pedals and incense under their helmets so the person who killed them could be swept by the euphoric moment of victory. In general, the samurai were the most sophisticated, civilized, and violent warriors the world has ever known.
The three of us entered the museum and visited every open exhibit. Several of them bore special interest for me: The Medieval, Renaissance, and Japanese art. When observing the art of Medieval Europe, I noticed that there was separate recognition of art from Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Linda had foreknowledge concerning the differences and she shared with us why they were significant. Catholics often used statues of saints while Orthodox leaders leaned more toward portraits because they believed that people would be less inclined to see a painting as an idol and worship it as they would for a statue. Idol worship is against the highest beliefs of Christianity. The Renaissance art showed a return to classic Greek-Roman mythology and deeper exploration of Biblical stories. Renaissance artists had a fascination with the human body's form. I had familiarity with the Japanese art; I recognized the iconic images of the 47 ronin in several paintings. The ronin, "men of waves" or masterless samurai, are famous in the Japanese cultural consciousness for their display of devotion to their fallen lord and claiming revenge for him 8 years after his death. The museum exhibited some samurai armor, weapons, and and statues. I had a moment of nostalgia being separated from them only by glass. Staring at the beautifully designed armor, I came to think that the men who wore them had to realize they were going to die in them. Then it struck me that the armor was decorated with that in mind. The samurai wanted to look distinctive and majestic when they died because death in battle was the highest honor in their society. Samurai even put flower pedals and incense under their helmets so the person who killed them could be swept by the euphoric moment of victory. In general, the samurai were the most sophisticated, civilized, and violent warriors the world has ever known.
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed the trip to the museum and I gained a greater appreciation for the exhibits than I had any time before.
glad you went! enjoyed reading your entry!
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