Leeches and Laxatives: The Four Temperaments (0 – 1450)

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In the past, illnesses and ailments were unexplainable phenomena that meant you had sinned and were being punished by the gods. However, as science and philosophy began to take shape in places like ancient Greece, physicians like Hippocrates began to make new observations about illness and its affects.

Woodcut of faces representing the four humors from Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe (1775-1778) by Johann Kaspar Lavater
what was humorism?

Humorism was a theory that was made by Hippocrates, a physician in ancient Greece, and was used to treat people’s illnesses by balancing the four fluids in the body. It was believed that if the four fluids– phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile– needed to be kept in balance in order to keep a person healthy. The balance of the humors were affected by an individual’s gender, environment, lifestyle, mental state, and even by the planets. If someone had an excess of a fluid, then a physician would have them release the excess by urinating, letting blood and leeches, purgatives (like laxatives), or blistering the skin with hot irons. Symptoms of excess fluids included runny noses from too much phlegm and bloody noses from too much blood.

Pages of Fasciculus Medicinae on humorism depicting a urine wheel written by Johannes de Ketham, (fl. 1455-1470), Vienna, 1495
The four Temperaments

In humorism there were four temperaments called melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic, and sanguine. It was believed that every person had a natural temperament that they fell under, and that they needed to balance themselves by having the opposite temperament in their lives. For example, if a person was considered melancholic, then they needed to take purgatives to remove excess black bile in their bodies or they would need to. A person’s temperament did not stay the same and changed over time. As people aged they naturally moved from choleric to sanguine and then to phlegmatic and finally to melancholic. When seasons changed, a person had an excess of whichever temperament was associated with the season. In autumn for example, a person might have more phlegm in their body that caused their runny nose.

temperament chart:
Temperament:MelancholicCholericPhlegmaticSanguine
Humor:black bileyellow bilephlegmblood
Season:wintersummerautumnspring
Age:old agechildhoodmaturityadolescence
Element:earthfirewaterair
Qualities:cold and
dry		hot and
dry		cold and
moist		hot and
moist
Organ:spleengall
bladder		brainheart
Planet:saturnmarsmoonjupiter
appreciating modern medicine

Learning about the past of medicine brings me a new appreciation to our current medical knowledge and the practice of doctors that is strongly regulated. While the theory of humorism is a fascinating and important first step into identifying illness and disease in the human body, I can’t imagine having a doctor decide I have too much blood and need leeches to drink the excess from my body. Please keep the leeches away from me and my blood.

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Survey 2: High Renaissance and Mannerism – Hans Holbein (1547 – 1619)

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Georg Gisze, a merchant in London, 1532

Hans Holbein was born in Augsburg, Germany. He took the best aspects of northern and Italian art and made the compositions of his paintings perfect examples of harmony. He made many portraits because artists at the time needed new ways to get work as the Reformation had caused a decline in religious paintings. He was made the Court Painter of Henry VIII and lived in England for two years to paint portraits of the royal household, as he was well known for them. Holbein’s portraits are seen as simple and nothing is done to make them exciting or dramatic, but the rendering of the scene was clearly done with extreme care and accuracy. The objects that surround the subjects of Holbein’s portraits tell a story about their personality and interests. While working as Court Painter, Holbein also designed a variety of items from clothing buttons to weapons.

Holbein’s portraits remind me of the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” because his portraits are simple but give information about their subjects without being overwhelming or over complicated. He paid special attention to the clothing his subject wore, and included plants and animals as part of the scene. The variety of objects in the scene make me wonder how they relate to the subject Holbein has painted. I enjoy the detailed clothing and the textures he achieved in his work.

Anne of Cleves, 1539
Sir Brian Tuke, c. 1527/1528 or c. 1532/1534
Edward VI as a Child, 1538
Robert Cheseman, 1533

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Yearbook Rationale

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The first thought that came into my mind when we were assigned the yearbook project was a fork and knife cutting into my brain. I wanted the image to seem like people were taking pieces of my brain so they could find out what I think, and so they could get to know me. I made multiple thumbnails before settling on the final two page spread. In previous versions my face was in the center as the focal point, but I wanted to draw more attention to the brain and the act of eating. I included the mouth to show more emotion in the image. The fork and knife framed the photo and guided the viewers eyes toward the center where the brain is. I used the green to imitate the streaks in my hair, which made the faceless figure recognizable as myself rather than a random person. The pink and green contrast well, and don’t feel imbalanced as they are both fairly light colours. I cut the image in half because I wanted the yearbook page to be easily viewed after it was made into a book. I added white highlights to the brain to make it look like it was wet and as if it was just taken out of my head.

I used a restaurant theme on the text side, including the five descriptors as fake reviews. I wrote my “secret” in red because I wanted it to be harder to see from afar because it was supposed to be a secret. I wrote my introductory statement like a restaurant would describe their overpriced meat dish which made light of the morbid scene to the left, which I feel describes me fairly well.

I would give myself an 8/10. I think I did really well on the visual part of the yearbook, but I think I could have put more information onto it. I also think I could have switched the positions of the secret and the five descriptive words at the bottom of the page.

Survey 1: Late Gothic and Renaissance- Paolo Uccello (1397 – 1475)

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The Battle of San Romano, 1438-1440

Paolo Uccello, whose real name was Paolo Di Dono, was born on June 15th, 1397 in Pratovecchio, Italy. He was was a painter and mathematician who studied as a member of the workshop of the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. While most of his early work had been in the Gothic style, following naturalistic, curved lines, his experience with sculpture under Ghiberti allowed him to think in three-dimensional forms while working on two-dimensional paintings. Uccello used his experience in mathematics and applied it to art in order to champion the use of perspective in Renaissance art.

Uccello’s compositions utilize perspective to give his paintings depth and give more weight to each scene. The objects in his paintings each have their own space that they occupy rather than simply laying flat in front of a background. This weight makes the interactions of the different subjects feel more dynamic. The Hunt in the Forest, for example, uses the hunting dogs to show the depth of the forest, and the size of these dogs deepens the forest, giving it a more vast look. The fallen logs point deeper into the forest, and guide the viewer’s eyes towards the center of the painting, and towards their common vanishing point. In The Battle of San Romano, the fallen knights show the depth of the battlefield, and gives each cavalry a space to occupy.

The Crucifixion, mid 1450’s
Saint George Slaying the Dragon, 1430
The Hunt in the Forest, 1465-1470
The Annunciation, early 1420s

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Blue-Faced Pharaohs: The Significance of Blue in Ancient Egypt (40,000 BCE – 0 CE)

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In depictions of royalty throughout human history, few are portrayed with blue faces. Why would anyone create a work of art showing their ruler in such a strange colour? Surely they’d get punished for ruining their majesty’s image and making a mockery of them, right? But that was is not the case in Ancient Egypt. Blue was an important design element of Egyptian art, and was utilized in specific ways.

Amun and the colour blue

While all gods were all depicted with blue hair, Amun was the only one that was consistently shown to have a blue face. Amun was the god of creation, and he ruled over all beings– including other gods. That made Amun the most powerful of the gods, and blue was associated with his powers of life and creation. Some artwork of pharaohs depicted them with blue faces and hair, because they were associated with Amun and pharaohs were considered gods on earth.

1353-1336 BC, Amarna Period. A glass portrait inlay of the pharaoh, Akhenaten. A piece of a larger full-body portrait that could have been part of jewellery, furniture, or relief sculpture. The turquoise colour used represents life, fertility, and creation.
https://www.cmog.org/artwork/portrait-inlay-pharaoh-akhenaten
why was blue important?

 One of many reasons blue was important was because the pigment was very expensive to make. Especially the specific shade that was referred to as “Egyptian Blue”, or Irtiu. It was made of heated quartz, malachite, and calcium carbonate. Another reason was because the Nile River provided the Egyptians with many of their basic needs. It supported their transportation, agriculture, and provided them fresh water and fish to eat. The river sustained their lives and thus the colour blue reflected the waters of the Nile, and came to symbolize life as well. Blue was also important because faience, a material made of crushed quartz, was often a blue colour and the material was said to be “magical” and “filled with the undying shimmer of the sun, and imbued with the powers of rebirth” (Riccardelli 2007). 

Sculpture of Isis breastfeeding Horus symbolizing rebirth from Egypt, ca. 332–30 B.C. Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period, faience; H. 17 cm (6 11/16 in); W. 5.1 cm (2 in.); D. 7.7 cm (3 1/16 in.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest Fund, 1955 (55.121.5)
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548310.
where was blue utilized?

Although blue carried very strong symbolism and it was very expensive to make, it was not limited only to noble artwork. There were many ceramics, beads, and amulets that used blue. Faience was a cheaper and more accessible way for peasants to have the sought after colour. Lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the most precious stone to Egyptians and was used in pieces meant for royalty. Lapis lazuli was often paired with gold to make jewellery and various protection amulets, such as the heart scarab. It was also used to decorate the tombs of pharaohs.

Upper section of a blue-painted Hathor Jar from Malqata, ca. 1390–1353 B.C. Egyptian; Thebes, Malqata, New Kingdom pottery, slip, paint; H. 24.5 × diam. 25 cm (9 5/8 × 9 13/16 in.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1911 (11.215.473) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/549178

Blue was a vital part of Egyptian culture, and it was used in everyday items all the way up to the most expensive and lavish. Therefore, the blue faces of pharaohs was not a mockery, but a way of showing them the utmost respect. It associated them with life and creation, and the all powerful god Amun. Blue conveyed their elite status as royalty, and adorned them even in death.