Art History

Becket, the aesthetics of Martyrdom. By Paul Mellon, Cambridge University. Gothic art in England 12th and 13th Centuries, cathedrals were places for public education, also in an age of intolerance and inquisition. This lecture is an holistic view of the time, the church is seen as an alive building, people invest in them, artists: Painters, architects, sculptures. Canterburry and its trinity chapel (1174) is an opulent of solemn style. It has Corinthian columns. The classical elements of its composition are allusive and inspired by French gothic. But the colours are very important, all the marble came from Rome and was inspired by the Crypto – Confessio. Canterburry was a Benedictine church. Canterburry is plagued with allusions to Thomas Becket and his martyrdom, the colours of the marbles are pallid red over white they try to symbolise the blood and the brain of the saint. In December 1170, Thomas wanted to die in martyrdom imitating Jesus, so he had a last supper, a cross, etc. P...

The National Gallery, London. Survey curse. A history of western painting. 1260 –1900. Lecture 1. Louise Govier. Heavenly worlds. (1260 – 1400) This course began as an introduction to history of art called “From Giotto to Cezane”, however, people in the national gallery thought of something slightly different from that because, that first approach to history of art was being made regarding different styles and times, and ordering it according to neoclassicism, romantissicism, etc, which had the disadvantage of putting thins in a skewed way. This course then, tries to consider history of art as a whole, so the different “ways of looking” might be reconsidered as “actions and reactions” to previous work done by artists. A new look into history of art should include also artist not as known as the big men but also women probably, or others whose work is worth mentioning. The first session is called “Heavenly bodies” and we will focus our attention at looking key works from the early ...