autumn of the style:

In Spengler’s lifecycle autumn is the first phase of Civilization, when the Culture begins to atrophy, losing originally, it starts to break down and dissolve its own works.  It is Modernity, the age of art “problems”& attempts to excite the consciousness of the urban population (in the megalopolis); art becomes craft art.

 

“return to nature”:

In the Enlightenment Rousseau famously promoted this idea.  In 1754 the academy of Dijon set up a contest on the topic: “Did the reestablishment of sciences & arts contribute to purifying the morals?”  Rousseau’s entry, “A Speech on Science and the Arts” asserted that the culture did not contribute.  Sciences & arts dealt with external elements of human existence, superficial & harmful to the inner world of human nature.  Rejecting the culture of Reason (advocated by the Encyclopaedists) he urged a return to Nature, a nature without corruption, the nature of naivety, the purity of the natural humans.  His paper won the prize & Rousseau became instantly famous.  In 1759 Dijon sponsored another contest, the theme being: “What is the origin of inequality among men, and if it is authorized by natural law?”  Rousseau responded with “Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men”, radically criticizing the social & political conditions of his age.  He advocated a society in the state of nature, without class-distinctions.  Social inequality arose from agriculture & the concept of private possessions.  People started to publicly demand their territories by erecting fences; the right of property was born & with it the inequality of the rich & the distinction between master & servant.  Equality & the freedom of the state of nature was destroyed by social institutions.   "We were born free and equal. Now we are all chained!"  While he not advocate a literal return to a state of nature, he argued that a state of nature was the ideal towards which we must return, to recover our natural rights of equality & freedom.  This paper did not get the prize.

 

Rousseau:

Rousseau discusses the state of nature in the Discourse on Inequality & The Social Contract; it is the hypothetical, prehistoric place & time where human beings live uncorrupted by society.  People have complete physical freedom, at liberty to do essentially as they wish.  However, humanity has yet discover rationality or morality.  Rousseau alternately emphasizes the benefits & shortfalls of the state of nature but by and large he reveres it for the freedom of nature free of the coercive influence of state & society.  He acknowledged we can never return to the state of nature but understanding it is essential for society’s members to more fully realize their natural goodness.  His conception of the state of nature is entirely more positive than Hobbes.  Hobbes, who originated the term, viewed the state of nature as essentially a state of war & savagery. This difference reflects the philosophers’ differing views of human nature.  Rousseau viewed human nature as essentially good; Hobbes saw it as essentially base and brutal.

and see above, and Chapter I, page 33, Chapter IV, pages 141, 149 and 150

 

Gorgias:

485-380 BC, born in Sicily, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher & rhetorician, first generation of Sophists, probably a pupil of Empedocles.  Sophists were itinerant teachers who accepted fees in return for instruction in oratory & rhetoric; many claimed they could teach anything & its opposite (thesis & antithesis).  They also excelled in the ability to make weaker arguments the stronger. Gorgias gave public exhibitions of his skill at Olympia & Delphi charged fees for instruction & performances.  Famous for his presentations which included taking miscellaneous questions from the audience & giving impromptu replies.  He transplanted rhetoric from his native Sicily to Attica & helped diffuse the Attic dialect as the language of literary prose.  He is associated with the development of rhetoric in classical Greece where Athens (& other democratic polis) supplied the need for instruction in both rhetoric and philosophy. 

 

Talleyrand:

1754-1838, 1st Prince of Benevento, 1st Prince of Talleyrand, a laicized French bishop, politician & diplomat.  After theology studies in 1780 he became Agent-General of the Clergy & represented the Church to the Crown.  Worked at highest levels of successive French governments, as foreign minister or in diplomatic capacity.  His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, the French Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII & Louis-Philippe.  Napoleon found him extremely useful but his name became a byword for crafty, cynical diplomacy.  He was Napoleon's chief diplomat during French military victories bringing European states under French hegemony. He obtained peace with Austria (1801), Britain (1802), failed to prevent  renewal of war (1803),  opposed wars against Austria, Prussia & Russia (1805), resigned (1807) seeking peace; engaged in secret dealings with Tsar Alexander of Russia & Austrian minister Metternich, all of which Napoleon rejected.  After 1814 he took charge of the Bourbon restoration, played a major role at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) negotiated a favourable settlement for France.  Talleyrand polarizes scholarly opinion, many regard him as one of the most versatile, skilled and influential diplomats in European history, others see him as a traitor, betraying the Ancien Régime, the Revolution, Napoleon & the Restoration.

 

“qui n’a pas vécu avant 1789 ne connaît pas la douceur de vivre”:

French for “who did not live before 1789 does not know the sweetness of life”; quote of Talleyrand, from his Mémoires du Prince de Talleyrand (1838).

 

Sesostris III:

aka Senusret III: 5th king of the 12th dynasty (1878-39 BC)

and see page 206

 

Acropolis (Pericles): * see Endnote<A>

Pericles led Athens 461 to 429 BC, the Age of Pericles.  His ambitious building project on the Acropolis generated most of the surviving structures there. This project beautified & protected the city, exhibited its glory & gave work to the people.  He promoted art & literature; it is through his efforts that Athens became the educational & cultural centre of the Greek world Pericles fostered Athenian democracy and some have labelled him a populist. 

 

Zeuxis:

born 464 BC, Heraclea (SE boot of Italy); Greek painter though none of his work survives; known for realism, small scale, novel subject matter & independent format.  His technique created volumetric illusion through manipulating light and shadow, a change from the usual method of filling in shapes with flat color.  He also introduced genre subjects (e.g. still life), contributed to the composite method of composition, and may have originated the ideal form of the nude.  He may have studied with the Greek painter Appollodorus; notable works include Helen, Zeus Enthroned & The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents and various Olympian gods & demi-gods.  Most of his works went to Rome and to Byzantium, but disappeared during the time of Pausanias.

 

Phidias:

see Chapter I, page 23

 

Ommaiyads: * see Endnotes<B>

aka Umayyad Caliphate,  651-750 AD, 2nd of the 4 main caliphates after Muhammad; ruled by the  Umayyad dynasty (Sons of Umayya) from Mecca.  Although the Umayyad Uthman ibn Affan ruled as Caliph 644–656, officially the dynasty begins with Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, governor of Syria at the end of the First Muslim Civil War (661 AD).  Syria was their main power base, Damascus their capital.  They continued Muslim conquests, taking Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb & Iberian Peninsula, ruling 11.1 million square km & 62 million people (nearly 30% of the world’s population at this time).

and see Chapter 3 page 111

 

Moorish architecture: * see Endnote <C>

The Alhambra of Granada Spain is famous for its Moorish art.  A palace and fortress complex originally constructed as a small fortress (889 AD) & ignored until rebuilt mid-13th century by the Nasrid Emirates of Granada.  They built its current palace and walls & converted it into a royal palace in 1333(by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada).  The Alhambra was built during the decline of the Nasrid dynasty, who were increasingly subject to the Christian Kings of Castile.  It is a typical example of Muslim Moorish art in its final European stages, relatively uninfluenced by the direct Byzantine influences (as found in the Mezquita of Córdoba.). 

 

arabesques:

see Chapter II, page 72  and Chapter IV, page 128

 

stalactites: * see Endnotes<D>

aka Mocárabe, an ornamental design, 12th century Islamic architecture; consisting of a complex array of vertical prisms resembling stalactites. The terms mocárabe & muqarnas are synonymous, (though not all muqarnas have stalactite formations).  It may be a symbolic representation of the cave where Mohammed received the Koran.  It was used on friezes, vaults, windows, arches & columns. The Nasrid dynasty of Granada used mocárabe extensively around the capitals of its columns thereby making a new order of column.

 

Hayden

see Chapter II, page 78

 

Mozart:

see Chapter I, page 44, Chapter II, page 78, Chapter III, page 108

 

Dresden shepherdesses:

Meissen porcelain or china, first European hard-paste porcelain, developed 1708 by von Tschirnhaus; later Böttger continued his work & brought porcelain to market.  Production at Meissen (near Dresden) started in 1710 & attracted artists & artisans.  Became most famous porcelain manufacturers in the world, dominated European porcelain until 1756.  While figurines were produced under Böttger, when Kändler became model master (1733) he produced the most iconic.  Popular were the small figurines for table decoration, included court scenes, shepherds & shepherdesses, animals, allegories, chinamen & Turkish figures.  Porcelain figurines, such as Dresden shepherdesses, are a shorthand reference to this trade.  And for Spengler it is a symbol of art becoming craft art.

 

Watteau:

see Chapter II, page 87 and Chapter III, page 108

 

Guardi:

1712-1793; Italian painter of veduta (a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or print, of a cityscape or some other vista), a nobleman, with his brothers considered among the last practitioners of the classic Venetian school of painting.  Early in his career he produced religious paintings; after 1760, he focused on veduta. His early work shows the influence of Canaletto, but he gradually adopted a looser style using spirited brush-strokes & freely imagined architecture.

 

Dresden:

reference to the Rococo period in this city

see Chapter II, page 87

 

Potsdam: * see Endnote <E>

This is a reference to the Rococo period in this city.  The most famous Rococo project here was Sanssouci (French for "without concerns"), the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, Potsdam, Berlin; rivals Versailles but more intimate Rococo style & far smaller; includes numerous temples & follies in the park.  Designed by von Knobelsdorff 1745, finished by Bouman (Dutch architect) 1747.  Gave Frederick a private residence away from the pomp & ceremony of the Berlin court.  A large, single-story villa with only 10 principal rooms, built at the centre of a park.  Frederick's personal taste influenced the design & its style is characterised as "Frederician Rococo".

 

Wurtzberg:

The Rococo in this city is represented by the Würzburg Residence, a palace in Würzburg, Germany; designed by von Hildebrandt & von Welsch, reflects Austrian/South German Baroque style, Balthasar Neumann, was the principal architect; commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Johann von Schönborn & his brother Friedrich von Schönborn in 1720, completed 1744.  Tiepolo painted frescoes in the building; its interiors considered masterworks of Baroque/Rococo & Neoclassical architecture, includes the grand staircase, the chapel, and the Imperial Hall.

 

Vienna:

reference to the Rococo period in this city

see Chapter II, page 87

 

Erectheum:

see page 205

 

Dresden Zwinger

see Chapter II, page 87 and Chapter III, page 108

 

Classicism:

see Chapter III, page 108

 

Hellenistic megalopolis:

the great centres of Hellenistic culture were Alexandria (capital of Ptolemaic Egypt) and Antioch  (capital of the Seleucid Syria).  Cities such as Pergamon, Ephesus, Rhodes & Seleucia were also important, and increasing urbanization of the Eastern Mediterranean was characteristic of the time.  By this time neither Athens nor Sparta were major cities in the Hellenistic age.  Rome would eventually supplant all the Hellenistic urban centres.

 

Byzantium 900 AD: * see Endnote<F>

For the Magian Culture, this was the start of the Winter period, the last phase of Civilization, without spirt, dominated by urban civilization, ever lager urbanization.  We see revivals of older but lifeless forms.  For Spengler this means an endless reiteration of former ideas & styles, rather than anything new.  And it is clearly the case in Byzantium in 900 AD.  Iconoclasm was effectively ended in 843, celebrated as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy.  And this is reflected in 867 with the installation of a new apse mosaic in Hagia Sophia, depicting the Virgin & Child.  It was celebrated by the Patriarch who referred to victory over the evils of iconoclasm.  In the same year Emperor Basil I (the "the Macedonian") ascended the imperial throne.  This dynasty (867-1056) saw the Byzantine state reach its greatest expanse since the Muslim conquests & the birth of the Macedonian Renaissance in letters & arts.  This movement, especially the 10th century, invovled increased interest in classical scholarship & assimilation of classical motifs into Christian artwork.  In 886 Leo VI (866-912) succeeded Basil I, ruling until 912.  He was very well-read, leading to his epithet the Wise or the Philosopher.  He continued the renaissance of letters. 

 

Empire modes of the north (Egypt): * see Endnote <G>

The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, was the period in Egyptian history between the 16th & 11th century BC covering the 18th, 19th & 20th dynasties. It followed the 2nd Intermediate Period & was succeeded by the 3rd Intermediate Period.  While Egypt enjoyed great wealth & power in this age her creativity lapsed.  Her temples become larger but their plan formulaic.  Scale becomes grand but the Form is reiterated by magnification. This same holds true for sculpture with the proliferation of large free standing colossi.  The symbol of Egyptian Culture, the pyramid, is abandoned and gradually traditions of the valley temples & mortuary temples is lost as well.

 

pedant:

person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning, or who overemphasizes rules or minor details or who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.

 

eclectic:

selecting from various sources or that made up from what is selected from different sources;  not following any 1 system (philosophy, medicine or other) but selecting & using what are considered the best elements of all systems.

 

Arabian art:

Spengler is talking about a Culture, the Magian Culture

 

early Christian:

roughly 260-525 AD; identifiably Christian art only survives from the 2nd century onwards & after 550 Christian art is classified as Byzantine.  Before 100 AD Christians were constrained by their position as a persecuted minority; as it was a religion of the lower classes they lacked funds for patronage; numbers were small; Old Testament strictures against graven images may have inhibited Christian artists; Christians may have made art with pagan iconography, but given it Christian meanings (as happen later) & as such "Christian" art would not be immediately recognizable.

 

Late Roman:

250-450 AD, following a crisis in the mid third century, Rome recovered & maintained its role as a dominant player in W. Europe.  For most of the 4th century the Empire enjoyed tranquillity & prosperity.  This ended dramatically in the Balkan provinces in 378, when Valens was defeated & killed by the Goths.  In the 5th century, the western empire was gradually overrun by Germanic invaders, though the emperor survived (at least in name) until 476 when Rome the city fell.

 

Justinian I contemporary of Spanish Venetian Baroque of Charles V Philip II: * see endnote <H>

Justinian, Emperor of the East Roman Empire, ruled 527-65 AD; Spengler labels the Byzantine Culture as Magian. 

Spanish Baroque painting dominated Spain in the 17th century (in the Golden Age of Spain).  Supported by the Church & Spanish rulers Charles V (ruled 1516-56) & Phillip II (1556-98), Spanish art epitomized the struggles and grandeur of the age.

These actors are contemporary as they all were active during the Summer phase of their respective cultures. 

​

literati:

persons of scholarly or literary attainments; intellectuals.

 

Procopius contemporary with early Baroque of Madrid, Vienna, Rome: * see Endnote <I>

Procopius was a Byzantine historian who wrote about the palaces of Justinian in the 550s.  His descriptions, in his book The Buildings, applauds the work & construction of Justinian, portrayed as an ideal Christian Emperor.

Early Baroque begins in Italy with the Roman church of Santa Susanna (1597-1603) designed by Maderno.  Dynamic rhythm of columns & pilasters, central massing & protrusion and condensed central decoration add complexity to the structure.  In Spain it emerges in 1667, with the façade of Granada Cathedral, reflecting the artists' fluency in interpreting traditional motifs of Spanish sacred architecture with Baroque aesthetics.  In the Holy Roman Empire, it starts later due to the immense destruction of the 30 Years War.  From 1650 on construction work resumed.  Austria developed its own characteristic Baroque style during the last third of the 17th century.  This is reflected in The Belvedere, in Vienna, consisting of 2 palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables, all set in a Baroque park landscape.

 

Rubens:

1577-1640; was a Flemish artist, influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition.  His unique Baroque style emphasized movement, colour & sensuality, characteristics promoted by the Counter-Reformation.  He specialized in altarpieces, portraits, landscapes & history paintings of mythological & allegorical subjects. . Rubens was a prolific artist with over 1400 known works.  He ran a large Antwerp studio; he was a classically trained humanist who was knighted by both Philip II of Spain & Charles I of England.  His commissioned work were primarily history (religious, mythological, & hunt scene).  He also produced portraits & self portraits.  He designed tapestries & prints.

​

Tintoretto:

1518-1594, Italian painter born in Venice & exponent of the Venetian school; famous for his speed & boldness of his brushwork; he was loved & hated by contemporaries. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterised by his muscular figures, dramatic gestures & bold perspective, in the Mannerist style (or Late Renaissance).