Renaissance tragicomic delusion:

Spengler posits that the Renaissance thinkers & artists completely mistook Classical Culture and often copied Magian artefacts of the Pseudomorphosis which they mistaken related to Classical Culture, a Culture dead since about 100 AD.  One example of this is the Renaissance identification of the Moorish round arch & column with Classical architecture.

 

Rococo stage:

Spengler’s reference to a generic period in the Culture/Civilization lifecycle, during the late Summer period, just prior to the appearance of the Fall or decline in creativity,

 

Classical form of architecture:* see Endnote<A>

column & architrave

​

Magian form of architecture:

see page 213 above- column & round arch

 

Faustian form of architecture:

see page 213 above- pillar & pointed arch

 

Leitmotiv:

theme associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, or idea

an often repeated word, phrase, image, or theme in a literary work

 

acanthus: * see Endnote<B>

an ornament carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves (some similarity to the thistle & poppy).  In Greek architecture acanthus ornament appears extensively in the capitals of the Corinthian & Composite orders, friezes, dentils & other decorated areas.  The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia (built 450–420 BC); it was not popular in Greece.  However the Romans loved the Order & elaborated it with the ends of the leaves curled; they used it & their own invention, the Composite order (first seen in the age of Augustus), on their many grand buildings.  Vitruvius (75-15 BC) relates that the Corinthian order was invented by Callimachus, a Greek architect & sculptor.  He was inspired by a votive basket at the grave of a young girl; it included a few toys & a square tile had been placed over the basket (protecting them from the weather).  An acanthus plant had grown through the woven basket, mixing its spiny, deeply cut leaves with the weave of the basket.  Acanthus decoration continued in popularity in the Byzantine period.  Some of the most detailed & elaborate acanthus decoration is found in buildings of the Byzantine architectural tradition.  Here the leaves are undercut, drilled & spread over a wide surface.  Use of the motif continued in Medieval art, in sculpture & wood carving & friezes, although usually it is stylized and generalized, so that one doubts that the artists connected it with any plant in particular.

 

monument of Lysicrates (acanthus leaves): * see Endnote <C>

aka Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Acropolis, Athens, erected by the choregos Lysicrates (the sponsor who paid for and supervised the training of the dramatic dance-chorus).  Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus, wanted to commemorate the award of first prize in 335 BC to a performances he had sponsored.  It is a circular structure, raised on a high squared podium & is the first Greek monument built in the Corinthian order.  Originally crowned with an elaborate floral support for the bronze tripod (the prize). Its frieze depicts episodes from the myth of Dionysus.

​

Imperial Fora:

5 monumental fora (public squares), Rome, constructed 46 BC- 113 AD, centre of politics, religion & the economy for the Republic & Empire, located near but not part of, the Roman Forum; first fora built by Julius Caesar who rearranged both the Forum & the Comitium (another forum type space designated for politics) to accommodate his new building.

 

Nerva’s Fora (acanthus leaves): * see Endnote<D>

the 4th & smallest of the imperial for a; construction started by Emperor Domitian before 85 AD, completed 97 AD & opened by his successor, Nerva.  This street had long served as a market area, especially for booksellers and cobblers; the new forum continued to serve as both a thoroughfare and as a monumental entrance to the larger Roman Fora.

 

Trajan’s Fora (acanthus leaves): * see Endnote<E>

last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in Rome (inaugurated 112 AD; Trajan's Column erected in 113); architect Apollodorus of Damascus; ordered by Trajan using spoils of war from the conquest of Dacia; one of several projects including the construction of the Markets of Trajan, the renovation of the Caesar's Forum & the Temple of Venus Genetrix.  It was a vast portico-lined piazza measuring 300 m X 185 m; main entrance at the north end of the piazza, which was cobbled with rectangular blocks of white marble and decorated by a large equestrian statue of Trajan. On either side of the piazza are markets, also housed by the exedrae.

 

Mars Ultor (acanthus leaves): * see Endnote<F>

Temple, dedicated in 2 BC; hosted a cult (Mars the Avenger) created by Augustus  to mark his defeat of the assassins of Caesar at Philippi (42 BC) & the negotiated return of the Roman battle standards lost to the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC).  The god is depicted wearing a cuirass & helmet, standing in a martial pose leaning on a lance held in his right hand, holidng a shield in his left hand.  The goddess Ultio (the divine personification of vengeance), had an altar and golden statue in this temple which took over several rituals previously conducted within the cult of Capitoline Jupiter.  The temple became the point of departure for magistrates leaving for military campaigns abroad.  Augustus required the Senate to meet here when deliberating questions of war & peace.  It also became the site at which sacrifice was made to finish the rite of passage of young men assuming the toga virilis ("man's toga") age 14

see illustration

 

“latent Saracenic character”:

quote from “Problems of style: foundations for a history of ornament”, 1893 by Alois Riegl

 

Riegl:

see page 208 above

 

tendril:

a threadlike, leafless organ of climbing plants, often growing in spiral form, which attaches itself to or twines round some other body, so as to support the plant.

 

Haigia Sophia (acanthus):* see Endnote<I>

an example of Byzantine ornament

see illustration

 

Aramaean vine & palm: * see Endnote<J>

The Temple of Bel, Palmyra, uses the vine & palm motif on a number of its surfaces.  Palmyra was an ancient Semitic city mentioned in documents as early as the second millennium BC.  It changed hands several times before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD.  The city grew wealthy from trade caravans; the inhabitants became renowned as merchants who established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire.  Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and the distinctive tower tombs.  The citizens were a polyglot of Amorites, Arameans & Arabs, speaking a dialect of Aramaic, worshiping local Semitic deities, Mesopotamian & Arab gods.  Heavily influenced by Greco-Roman culture, their art & architecture was a blend of east and west.

 

Jewish ornamentation:* see Endnote<K>

Synagogue of Saint Mary the White, originally the Ibn Shushan Synagogue Toledo, Spain. Erected in 1180, one of the oldest synagogues in Europe; constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile by Islamic architects.

 

late Roman mosaic (pavements display acanthus):* see Endnote <L>

see illustration

 

sarcophagi (edges-acanthus- geometric pattern): see Endnote <M>ü

see illustration

 

Persia-Anatolia world:

This geographic region hosted 2 different Cultures/Civilizations, notably the Apollonian and then the successor Culture the Magian.

 

bizarrerie:

the quality of being bizarre, a bizarre act; markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character, often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd

 

Arabesque: *see Endnote <N>ü

see above pages 183, 196, 203

 

anti-plastic:

low level of plasticity (the ability or power to take on or to give form); a characteristic showing resistance to molding or receiving form

 

castle of Mashetta, Moab (façade): * see Endnote<O>

ruin of an Umayyad winter palace, commissioned by Caliph Al-Walid II (743-744 AD) but never completed, located south of Amman, Jordan; part of a string of castles, palaces and caravanserais known collectively as the Desert Castles; ruins still found in situ, but its most striking feature, its facade, has been removed and is on display at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

 

Ghassanids:

Arab kingdom, 220–638 AD, founded by descendants of the Azd tribe (Yemen), immigrated early 3rd century to the Levant; some merged with Hellenized Christian communities & converted, others may have already been Christians before emigrating north to escape religious persecution.  Eventuallythey became a client state of the Eastern Roman Empire, fighting alongside them against the Persian Sassanids & their Arab vassals, the Lakhmids.  Their kingdom was a buffer zone between annexed Roman lands & hostile Bedouin tribes.  Few became Muslim following the Islamic Conquest; most remained Christian and joined Melkite and Syriac communities within Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria & Lebanon.

 

craft art of Byzantine-Islamic style:* see Endnote<P>ü

The most famous surviving handicraft objects of the Magian Culture/Civilization are the Oriental carpets.

 

Lombard: * see Endnote<Q>ü

Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula 568-774 AD; descended from the Winnili tribe of S Scandinavia; they migrated 1st century AD as part of the Suebi of NW Germany.  By late 5th century, they occupied modern Austria & Slovakia N of the Danube; by mid 6th century they had destroyed rival German tribes.  Following this victory, they moved south to Italy, severely depopulated by the Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantines & the Ostrogoths.  Joined by Saxons, Thuringians, Ostrogoths & other Germanic tribes, they were unopposed.  By 569 they had conquered N Italy, while also occupying areas in central Italy & S Italy.  They established the Kingdom of Italy which reached its zenith in the 8th century.  In 774 Charlemagne conquered them adding them to the Frankish Empire.  Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italy well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to the County of Sicily.

 

Frankish:* see Endnote <R>ü

see Chapter III, page 108

and see illustration

 

Celtic: * see Endnote<S>ü

traditional geometric & abstract art of the Irish, Scots, Welch & other nationals with Celtic heritage. Most familiar are the elaborate knot work & interlace designs, also includes spirals, step designs and tessellations, key patterns, abstract animal and human motifs.

 

Old Nordic: * see Endnote<T>

aka Viking art or Norse art, the art of Scandinavia & Viking settlements notably in the British Isles and Iceland, in the 8th-11th centuries AD (the Viking Age); it has many design elements in common with Celtic, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions.