What is known as the “Protestant Reformation Era” in 16th century Europe, is typically attributed to Martin Luther (1483 – 1546). But prior to Luther there were pre-reformers that started to question the Papacy, in particular John Wycliffe from Yorkshire England (1300 -1384 ) and Jan Hus from Husinec, Bohemia (1369-1415). John Wycliffe was a highly respected theologians that had studied at Oxford, Europe’s most well respected University at the time. He questioned the Roman Catholic Church and their governing power. He started to identify the churches sense of divine rights and discrepancies between their behaviour and Bible scripture, in fact Whycliffe is accredited with being the first to translate the Bible with the intention to provide public access to the literature. Whycliffe fought against the Papacy and had a firm belief that there should be a divide between church and state. Although he later retired in his former years his teachings continued to spread throughout Europe and a following was later developed with the help of a priest in Prague.
John Hus (1369-1415) was a Preacher at University of Prague and “leader of the Czech reform party”(Cohn-Sherbok, Lavinia). At that time, he had students coming from Oxford University, showcasing the works of Whycliffe. His controversial teachings intrigued Hus, and he continued the fire of church reform and identifying the injustices of selling indulgences, while having to live in exile for his heretic nature.
During the Middle Ages the clergy were authorized by the Catholic Church to absolve penitents from the guilt of his sins and from punishment in the inferno of the hereafter, but it did not absolve them from doing penance on earth as a result of their sins. Indulgences did just that, they were sold by the Church so the sinner would not have to do penance, at the same time diminishing the time period that the sinner was to suffer in purgatory for remission of his sins. It was a well thought policy by the Church to increase its coffers. In 1414 Hus was invited to the Council of Constant, a Ecumenical council, where his attendance was only secured under the promise of “safe conduct” from the Emperor. Three weeks later he was imprisoned and acclaimed the “greatest Heretic of all history”. Shortly after he was tried and burned at the stake.
Martin Luther, Oil on Canvas by Lucas Cranach the Elder
The Beginning of Protestant Reformers
Luther continues and accelerates what has been instigated by Whycliffe and Huss, he starts a denomination in the church. One of the reasons Luther was able to progress was due in great part to his defender the Elector of Saxony, Frederick III, who sponsors and protects Luther. Martin Luther so much decried the selling of indulgences as he did the libertine lifestyle he found among the princes of the Church: Cardinals, bishops and other high members of the clergy when visiting Italy. He opposed the Holy See’s spiritual power to remit sins and soon his religious ideas moved him away from the official tenets of the Church. This brought him to nail his “95 Theses” on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg on November 1, 1517. The idea that salvation could be reached through faith and divine grace only and the primacy of the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority were part of those Theses. Their impact transformed for ever the spiritual/religious scene of the times and offered the believer a new interpretation of Christian theology, until then monopolized by the Catholic Church. His unsuccessful attempt to reform the Church created the ground for a new Christian faith.
Throughout his life he published numerous books and tracts: ‘A Treatise of Christian Liberty’, ‘On Monastic Wows’, ‘Dialogue’ among others, that the Church publicly burned after finding their content heretic and disrespectful to the Holy See. He established the tenets of the Lutheran faith. He ordained the first Lutheran minister in 1525. Luther influenced new religious faiths; Lutherans, Calvinism, Hussite.
The Wittenberg Altarpiece; Martin Luther preaching in the parish church of Wittenberg. (more…)
The Rise of the Worlds Worst Villains and the Subsequent Immigration of Europes most Prolific Artists
Featured below is a mood board and a blog board both in made in Invision; including both written and visual references depicting key historical events. This project starts with the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and goes on the explain how immigration and European influence changed architecture and graphic design in United States, forever. The intention of this project was to best convey my understanding of how three different subjects interconnected in this time. I felt I did well in this project, because I made significant efforts to understand how the Spanish Civil War led to the devastation of WW2; then I was able to determine, in my opinion, the most impactful changes in the U.S surrounding architecture and graphic design that came out of the political unrest and warfare.
An introduction to the Palaeolithic art and tools.
“Decorated Caves” or cave art was a global phenomenon that went on throughout the Stone Age specifically in the Palaeolithic Period; the Lower Palaeolithic (to 40,000 BC) and the Upper Palaeolithic (40,000–8000 BC) (Singh, Hermant). For a long time it was thought that Europe was the initial birthplace of prehistoric cave paintings. Paintings of mammoth, bisons and reindeer were first discovered in the 19th century in the caves of Northern Spain Altamira, and Southern France Lascaux, with “lifelike representations of animals” (E.H Gombrich, 39). but the oldest form of Palaeolithic art that has been discovered is in Indonesia in the “Lubang Jeriji Saléh” cave circa 40,000 BC.
Initially in early cave art we see neanderthals spraying pigment around their hands and shapes creating a sort of stencil outline. Cave art today has been discovered on every continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica.
image Gua Tewet “Tree of Life” early cave art.
cave art in Lascaux caves in Northern Fr
It has been observed by researchers that common tools throughout this period were made out of bone, stone and wood. Later developing in to more complex weapons such a spears and flints. In fact the Palaeolithic period is characterized by the creation, progression and use of these tools.
Throughout this period materials for art that could flake easily were intentionally sought after and applied with wood, hands, or animal fur. Pigments such as ochre, a clay yellowish pigment, chalk or charcoal were mixed in mouths, blended with fats and applied to the walls. Neanderthals would sometimes, they would go to great lengths and travel long distances to acquire materials such as Manganese, that could only be acquired in the Pyrenees Mountains.
The purpose of cave paintings is unknown and wildly debated throughout history with no real consensus. Perhaps it will always remain a mystery, but there are some prominent theories surrounding the infamous cave art. Through observations of current subsistent communities it has been hypothesized that the art was somewhat of a spiritual visualization and setting intention, to attract and capture the prey that they were visually rendering. Others believe it was strictly a ritualistic, spiritual or religious approach. Perhaps the most simplistic of ideas is that there was no reason at all, this was purely arbitrary and done because they simply wanted to do it.
One of the most perplexing facts about these murals to this day is the seemingly intentional placement of these petroglyphs in difficult places to reach. A lot of these paintings appear to be methodically placed in remote and high areas of these taverns. In fact some paintings are so high that some sort of engineered platform would have been needed to reach it. This coupled with the complicated and diverse mixing and usage of pigments really provides a strong argument against those who simply see this point in history as one of savagery and simplistic survival.
Citations:
Gombrich, E.H. The Story of Art Revised London, Phaidon 16th Edition, 1995
“Paleolithic art.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, Paul Lagasse, and Columbia University, Columbia University Press, 8th edition, 2018. Credo Reference, https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com.
Presented is a 15 x 11″ handmade visual representation of myself, Che Zugazaga, for an imaginary yearbook spread. The style of this spread is meant to reflect my personality and guide you through my values and history in an interesting way, with both captivating visuals and descriptive, concise text. The purpose of this spread is an effort for all first year students of the IDEA program at Capilano to get to know one another on a broader spectrum.
If I were to give myself a mark on this project it would be B, as I wasnt able to find the size of paper that was requested in the brief (17 x 8.5) and I find the presentation to be a bit text heavy.
