Socio-cultural and Political Relevance of Artwork
Regardless of how an artwork is interpreted and with what lens and in which frame it is looked through works of art stay alive as we glean historical information through them. As the following section on Wedding of Mary and Joseph shows, it is possible to develop various interpretations about the time and place of an artist even if researched historical information is available to assist us in our interpretation.
Wedding of Mary and Joseph
Produced by an unknown artist, Wedding of Mary and Joseph is an oil painting on canvas, depicting the couple getting married before the high priest who is clothed in a richly flower-patterned hooded mantle (Wedding of Mary and Joseph). There are clergymen assisting the high priest. Joseph is carrying his staff which has flowers at the top. Both the bride and bridegroom have golden halos. Ann, the mother of Mary stands right behind the bride. By Anns side is a suitor of Mary who has been rejected by Gods command. The suitor is shown breaking his staff, which has not flowered like the staff of Joseph (Wedding of Mary and Joseph).
The painting is enriched by gold stamping, which unifies the composition (Wedding of Mary and Joseph). There are Peruvian flowers scattered on the ground where Mary and Joseph stand. This transfers the scene of the Bible from the Holy Land to Peru (Wedding of Mary and Joseph). Furthermore, it describes an important movement in Peruvian art history by the name of Cusco School (Bennett).
Indeed, this painting accompanies a very important period in Peruvian history. Spanish colonization had not only managed to transfer the Spanish Inquisition to the Spanish territories around the globe, but also brought European art into Peru (Bennett). The Spanish Inquisition had claimed many lives in Europe. In Peru, the Inquisition had centered on the discovery of people who were Jews by birth, but had claimed to have converted to Christianity. These people were suspected to have gone back from Catholicism to Judaism. Thus, the Peruvian Inquisition was about punishing the Jews or converted Catholics for apostasy (Lea).
The Peruvian Inquisition had taken place in the seventeenth century. Seeing that the sociopolitical environment of Peru revolved around religious affairs at the time, it is not surprising that the Christian, Peruvian artists started a new art movement the Cusco School to create religious art in particular (Bennett). As a matter of fact, the Wedding of Mary and Joseph is a perfect example of Cusco art.
The Cusco School happens to be the largest movement of art in Peruvian art history. The movement was represented by mestizo painters and sculptors who produced countless depictions of religious figures adorned in gold (Bennett). The Spanish colonizers had used religious art to teach Christianity to the New World. Subsequently, native artists of Peru had begun to meld European art with their local style and tradition (Bennett). So, while the figures of Mary and Joseph in the Peruvian painting reveal European, Christian influence on the Peruvian artist the flowers and long tailed birds of Peru scattered on the ground show that the artist continues to feel attached to his land through colonization. The golden halos of the bride and the bridegroom are, of course, signature of the Cusco School.
Hence, the painting, Wedding of Mary and Joseph, reveals itself as an excellent tool to understand the culture of Peru with respect to Spanish colonization. By discovering more about the conditions of the artists time, history of the Americas may also be studied in great depth. Moreover, this painting helps viewers to appreciate how artists are influenced by their environments and the times.
Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando
Produced in another place and time altogether, renowned Parisian painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoirs Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando (1879) shows two girls, most probably between twelve and fifteen years of age, taking turns to perform their act at the circus (Mancoff). The facial and bodily expressions of the girls and their onlookers are open to any number of interpretations. One of the young girls is carrying balls around her chest while the other is communicating with the audience as part of her act. The girl who is communicating with the audience has a questioning, innocent expression on her face. The one who is carrying balls is possibly waiting for her turn to perform. She, too, is innocent and fresh in appearance as the other.
However, she seems to be dwelling on her new experiences of semi-adulthood. Perhaps she is musing on the boys in her life the young men who admire her very much. The audience depicted in the painting, behind the bodies of the two young girls, appears to consist of men alone after all. The men appear like judges, in their black coats, giving them the semblance of uniformed officers. Only one of the men has his face visible through the painting, and the face is hard enough for the girls to display their innocence in all its glory with the assumption that a harsh and suspicious attitude can only be counterbalanced by softness. Although the girl carrying the balls has her back turned toward the hard faced man, she knows that she too would have to perform.
The expressions of the male and the females in Renoirs Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando are rather similar to the expressions of the two sexes depicted in many of the artists works of the time. The woman is seen as the adored and innocent object that performs, even though the man is hard faced, perhaps weary of the work that he performs to fend for his family day after day. The woman is the amuser, the muse, and the object of entertainment to fend for. After all, she is beautiful (Norfleet). The only flawless facet of the man is that he is strong in Renoirs paintings, at least. What is more, the man is always staring at the woman in Renoirs works. He fondles her whenever he has the chance. The woman remains faithful to him this is depicted through the innocence on her face. If she becomes unfaithful she knows that the hard faced man would discontinue supporting her.
The French word for thank you is merci which, if spoken in English, perfectly describes the attitude of the woman in late nineteenth century Paris. Although Paris was one of the first places in the West where women were generally believed to have been liberated, Renoirs paintings reveal that the women were definitely not liberated through promiscuity or debauchery. Rather, urban Parisian women in the late nineteenth century seem to have been given permission by their men to be out and about, entertaining them, while remaining faithful to their innocence as well as their marital vows (Norfleet). As the facial expression of the young girl carrying balls in Renoirs Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando shows women understood their position in Parisian society even as they were aware that men and women are equally dependent on each other. Then again, the painting remains open to numberless sociological interpretations.
Mother with Child
As our analysis of Renoirs painting shows, it is possible to understand the situational context of a painting in any number of ways. Sociologists and historians may be more interested in discovering the history of society in a block of time. If psychoanalysts were to join them, there would be various intricacies of the human mind revealed through artworks.
On that note, Mother with Child is a very interesting sculpture because there are multiple ways of understanding its import. On the one hand, the sculpture is a perfect depiction of the pain of starvation that the African people have been experiencing for a long time, and that nobody outside of Africa has done anything consequential about despite the fact that the entire world discusses it. On the other hand, it represents a ritual that the Lulua tribe of the Democratic Republic of Congo had practiced for its own survival (Mother with Child).
The sculpture is that of a skinny, African female with an infant in her arms. Made with wood and copper alloy, the woman in the sculpture has bulging eyes and a pointed base. Her head is larger than her body. The bone lines on her neck are particularly telling. But, the bone lines on her neck and the wrinkles on her face had actually been created by the artist to show that the Lulua peoples had used scarification to adorn their bodies (Lulua Tribe Democratic Republic of Congo Mother with Child). Indeed, it is scarification that adorns the woman carrying the infant. Just the same the viewer is made to feel sorry for the woman and her child because they appear extremely poor.
The sculpture had been created for a Lulua woman who had experienced difficulties in childbirth. The Lulua people believed that it was the evil spirit which interrupted the process of childbirth for women. So that the woman would attract the ancestral spirit of the Lulua tribe and get rid of the evil spirit, the artist gave her the sculpture to care for until delivery. The bulging eyes of the sculpture reveal that the woman is aware of the influence of the evil spirit that is stopping her from becoming a mother (Lulua Tribe).
The Lulua peoples had migrated from western Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the eighteenth century. These people lived in small regional chiefdoms, and therefore formed closely knit communities (Lulua Tribe). Because they were immigrants, they were rather concerned about their continuity. Additionally, the Lulua people believed that sculptures had to be created for religious reasons (Lulua Tribe). Lulua sculptors who created artworks such as the Mother with Child must have had faith that they were carrying out their moral duty toward their own people.
Indeed, the religious values of the Lulua people were guarded by their art. Sculptures of females were quite popular among them, as these figures exemplified the union of physical and moral beauty (Figurative Sculpture). The Lulua people believed in equating proper behavior with physical beauty (Figurative Sculpture). It can be inferred that the Mother with Child and all other sculptures created for the same reason were reminders for the Lulua people that the human body cannot be separated from morality. This principle is clearly exemplified by the bond between mother and child.
Foreign influences in Nabataean art
There is no place in the world like Petra undoubtedly the most well-known legacy of the Nabataeans for the millions of tourists that visit it year after year. The exceptional beauty of Petras sculpted mountains reveals that the Nabataeans had a dominant culture. It takes a high degree of confidence, after all, to create such beauty as did the Nabataeans. History confirms this assumption. Vries and Osinga state that the Nabataeans at their height spread as far north as Damascus, to the coast of the Mediterranean at Gaza in the east and to Madain Salih in the south. But, the Nabataean kingdom came under Roman rule in the year 106 A.D. It became an Arabian province at the time (Vries and Osinga).
The Nabataeans were caravan drivers on a large scale. Roman traders visited Petra even before the Nabataean kingdom was taken over by the Romans. These traders came to conclude transportation agreements with the Nabataeans. The latter traveled around the world with merchandise between the Red Sea and the Nile, and sometimes as far away as the Delta (Sartre, Porter, and Rawlings 268). Unsurprisingly, therefore, their temples expose a variety of influences on the hearts and minds of the Nabataeans (Vries and Osinga). Vries Osinga write,
The many structures are so diverse that it is difficult to categorize them, at least without oversimplifying or overlooking what may be important details. Philip Hammond, who excavated the Temple of the Winged Lions, concludes that it might be more faithful to the diversity of the temples to see them not as derivatives of Iranian temples, Roman temples or other, but to recognize the borrowing of constructional and decorative technique and to concentrate on why each was unique. (Vries and Oringa)
Sartre, Porter and Rawlings state that the Nabataeans were so influenced by Greek art following the Roman invasion that they spread that influence in many parts of Arabia. Nude heroes of the Greeks have been found in Arabia and believed to have been conveyed there by the Nabataeans (Sartre, Porter and Rawlings 269). But, Vries and Oringa have uncovered Egyptian influence in the temples of Nabataeans to boot. Describing one of the most significant temples left by the Nabataeans, the authors state,
The Wadi Rum temple took its layout from Egyptian models, specifically the Egyptian Temple Dayr Chelouit. The only reference to the Roman world would be columns of the Wadi Rum Temple. Dharih might also be kin to the Egyptian Temple of Coptos, while the Qasr al-Bint and the Temple of the Winged Lions find construction parallels there also. (Vries and Oringa)
Then again, Greek andor Roman influence seems to be most profound. Although temple plans of the Nabataeans do not appear typically Roman, decoration outside of the temples may be recognized as distinctly Roman andor Hellenistic. As an example, the external decoration of Khasneh makes it appear as though it was built in Alexandria (Vries and Oringa). However, Vries and Oringa argue that the Nabataeans did not simply copy the designs that were handed down to them by Romans. Instead, they took influence in their stride, sometimes appropriating the general structure but modifying and adapting it as time went on (Vries and Oringa). In other words, they were open to influence, but also believed in maintaining their local traditions. Taylor agrees with this view. In her book, Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans, she explains that the Nabataeans did not make copies as slaves would. Rather, Greek ideas were amazingly transformed by the Nabataeans into works of art keeping a distinctively Nabataean flavor (Taylor 92). No wonder, Petra remains as an incomparable feast for the eyes for all lovers of art.
Vries and Oringa write that the art of Nabataeans, in particular the sculptures they made, also changed from era to era that is, even before the Romans came to rule the Nabataean kingdom, the Nabataeans went on altering their artistic style (Vries and Oringa). Perhaps their visits to foreign lands brought such changes to the art of the kingdom. But, once the Romans had arrived on the scene, the Nabataeans did not only borrow the artistic styles of the Greeks but also others. The sculptures of deities in Tannur, for example, appear both Hellenistic and Oriental. The Nabataeans also seem to have been influenced by Syrian art, as revealed through sculptures at both Dharih and Tannur (Vries and Oringa).
Although Hellenistic artistic style of classical proportions is most often cited as an influence on Nabataean art, there were plenty of sculptures made by the Nabataeans that did not appear Greek at all even though they were made while the Nabataeans were living under Roman rule (Vries and Oringa). Vries and Oringa cite the simple standing block as an example of such artwork. The fact that the Nabataeans maintained their local flavor in their artistic style shows that these people did not lose their cultural identity at the time. Even the Romans may have delighted in diversity revealed through Nabataean art.
Imitation in art Is it a problem
Today, we refer to our world as a global village. Using the Internet, we are aware that interaction with people from different parts of the world requires a certain level of integration, even if it only means that they should know our language. As the Nabataeans interacted with people from around the globe, they too must have experienced the need to know their respective languages. Art, too, is a language. It gains importance as a language when we cannot communicate with people from other parts of the world in ways other than simple gestures. What is more, it is but human nature to be influenced by the environment. If foreigners occupy our environment we are bound to be influenced by them. Most importantly, this does not render a perfect work of art imperfect, as the individuality of Petra clearly shows.
As another example to understand influence in the world of art, let us assume that an American learns the German language well enough to write poetry in the foreign language. Does this mean that his or her poetry would be distinctively German in character No. The expressions that the American poet employs would be German although the identity or personality of the poet revealed through his or her work would remain American.
Perhaps this is one of the best ways to understand influence in art. Integration, diversity, and learning through integration are all good. They lead to creative change. The world of art would become static without this. Then again, as the greatest Greek philosopher, Plato would put it imitation in art is bad because artists are representing God, the most creative one. Hence, imitation or adaptation in art must necessarily replace the reality of something with falsehood, thereby shaking the very foundation of being human, that is, an image of God on earth (Plato and Aristotle on Art as Imitation).
Conclusion
We focused on the political conditions surrounding the artist of Wedding of Mary and Joseph. Societal context of Renoirs painting, Acrobats At The Cirque Fernando, was explored with a brief overview of gender relations in 19th century Paris. This study may have been conducted with historical information gleaned through novels, too. The cultural context of Mother with Child was also explored in this paper. Finally, we considered foreign influences on art of the Nabataeans that continues to be admired today like all other pieces of artwork discussed thus far.
Although this discussion was centered on political, societal and cultural contexts of works of art, it was clarified as part of the discussion that an artwork may be appreciated in any number of ways. There are countless theories and innumerable stories about the history of mankind. What is more, each piece of artwork tells a tale about the space and time of its artist alone. The work lives on as students of art and historians delve into artwork over and again. Any number of assumptions could be made about the situational context of an artwork thus. Art lovers may even choose to offer excuses on behalf of imitators, as our discussion on imitation as a problem in art reveals.
Perhaps, therefore, it is reasonable to state that a work of art has as many minds as interpreters as the number of people that consider the artwork through the passage of time. Moreover, only assumptions can be made about the situational context of an artwork. History is best left to those that lived it. After all, we only make educated guesses about what people of the past lived through to gather useful information for our lives in the present. We cannot even be sure that historians have told us the absolute truth in their tomes of history.
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