<A>
“As the essence of every Culture is religion…the essence of every Civilization is irreligion.... the creativeness of Manet as against Velasquez….”
Velasquez was a Faustian artist of the Spring Culture: Manet belongs to the Autumn Civilization; both were leading artist in their respective countries & periods, Spanish Baroque & French Impressionism. Manet was influenced by the Masters, in particular Velasquez, notably with his brush stroke & immediacy. He employed new techniques with his use of alla prima (capturing outdoor light). Their content was dramatically different- Velasquez painted academic work, portraits, historical & religious subjects. Manet avoided this & focused on genre. Stylistically they also differ. Manet has an opaque flatness to his surfaces (like Japanese woodblock) whereas Velasquez clearly employs a feeling for depth & volume. They both used a nimble quick brushstroke to catch light.
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<B>
“As the essence of every Culture is religion…the essence of every Civilization is irreligion.... the creativeness of…Wagner as against Haydn….”
Haydn was a Faustian composer of the Spring Culture: Wagner belongs to the Autumnal Civilization; both were leading composers in their respective countries & times, the Austrian Classical period & German Romanticism. Haydn composed in all the current musical genres- secular & religious: masses, oratorios, hymns, motets, operas, symphonies, chamber music, string quartets, keyboard, dances & marches; no other composer approaches his combination of productivity, quality & historical importance. Wagner wrote no religious music, his art was for the stage exclusively. He was a revolutionary, introducing the novel concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk or total work of art as well as launching a musical revolution with the first notes of “Tristan und Isolde” and the unresolved musical tension, ending conventional harmony & tonality.
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<C>
“As the essence of every Culture is religion…the essence of every Civilization is irreligion.... the creativeness of …of Lysippus as against Phidias….”
Phidias was the most famous & revered of the 5th century sculptors & concentrated on portraying the gods; his commissions were for temple works & for the Greek polis. Contemporary critics took a high view of his merits, especially the permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later so called "pathetic" school of the 4th century. Lysippus, also massively famous, produced religious work for Greek temples but also (judging by the sheer numbers) for markets outside Greece as well. His work incorporates movement in the pose rather than the static formality of Phidias; he was an innovator, not afraid to break the canon of Polykleitos, famous for his “naturalism” rather than his grandeur.
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<D>
“As the essence of every Culture is religion…the essence of every Civilization is irreligion.... the creativeness of …Theocritus as against Pindar….”
Pindar.
He was an Archaic poet living in the Classical age. Just as society was turning away from choral poetry, he was exalting it! Indifferent to the intellectual reforms shaping the theology of his day, for him an eclipse was portent of evil & not a physical effect. A traditional polytheist, unlike Aeschylus he subjects both fortune & fate to divine will. His view of the gods is traditional but more reverent & consistent than Homer. He never depicts gods in demeaning roles, he revises traditional myths so as not to diminish their dignity. His treatment of Apollo's rape of the nymph Cyrene is not presented as shameful. His gods are above such ethical issues, not to be judged by human standards & in any case the finest breeds of men resulted from divine passions. The gods are the embodiment of power, proud of their nature, violent in defence of their privileges. His statements on life after death were not consistent (typical for the times); traditional ambivalence (as expressed by Homer) was complicated by a growth of religious sects (the Eleusinian mysteries and Pythagoreanism) which represented schemes of rewards & punishments in the next life. Pindar has no theory of history except that Fortune is variable even for the best; he gives no analysis of human nature. His poems are indifferent to the ordinary masses, or as he calls them “the brute multitude"
Theocritus.
The the father of pastoral literature, poetry that presents the society of shepherds as free from the complexity & corruption of city life, depicting rural life in an idealized manner, typically for urban audiences. A Hellenistic Greek, Theocritus set several of his Idylls in the countryside, probably reflecting the landscape of the island of Cos where he had lived; these involve dialogues between herdsmen & may have drawn on authentic folk traditions of Sicilian shepherds. However Theocritus himself lived in the cities of Alexandria & Syracuse; his beatific portrayals of rural life perpetuated fantasies about real rural life. Descriptions of undemanding rustic chores, such as watching over sheep from atop a sunny hill, functioned for some poets as critiques of city or court life. The seemingly perfect leisure of outdoor solitude also embodies erotic fantasies, as shepherds are portrayed chasing after pretty young girls, abandoning their responsibilities. Many of the idylls written in its name are far remote from the realities of any life, rustic or urban. It is a form of escapism.
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<E>
Paris (irreligious megalopolis): *
Paris played a prominent role in the medieval ages, a prosperous & large city: it invented the Gothic style, had one of Europe’s oldest universities (1150) & contained several monumental cathedrals. It also experienced political instability & religious turmoil. In the 14th century the Plague ravaged the city. During the Hundred Years War it was occupied by the Burundians & English (1418-36). As the capital it suffered in the 16th century, first from political turmoil in the Religious Wars (1562-98). Then the Fronde erupted (1648-53) leading to the heavy economic devastation. In 1682 Louis XIV moved out in favour of Versailles. In 1789 the city was a focal point for revolution. It then became the capital of Napoleon’s empire, the latter building monuments to commemorate his many battle victories. It was during the 19th century that Paris became a world city, increasing from half a million in 1801 to 1.1 million by 1846, triggered by the development of traditional artisanal industries. This led to a boom in building; urban construction peaked in the 1850s & 1860s under the renovations of Baron Haussmann. Haussmann rebuilt the centre, knocked down its fortification & expanded the metropolitan area. By 1860 the city had swallowed up the inner suburbs. Large-scale industries moved in benefitting from the city's position as capital & largest urban area in France; as a national rail hub it facilitated shipment raw industrial materials to the city, giving manufacturers increased access to national & international markets. The sophisticated investment banking of Paris gave businessmen access to credit markets & manufacturing also benefitted from the large & diverse labour market. Population growth after 1850 was spectacular; by 1901 it was 2.7 million, mostly unskilled working class. In the last half of the 19th century Paris emerged as the cultural capital of Europe, hosting 2 major international expositions & building the Eiffel Tower. The city became the laboratory of Naturalism (Émile Zola) and Symbolism (Baudelaire & Verlaine), and Impressionism (Courbet, Manet, Monet, Renoir).
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<F>
Bruges (old Culture-towns): *
Bruges enjoys a wealth of churches & religious art, reflecting the fact the money made in the commercial world was often translated into other worldly wealth & especially benefitted her churches. Notable architectural monuments include:
The Church of Our Lady
dates from the 13th, 14th & 15th centuries; Gothic in style with prominent flying buttresses on the exterior (constructed in the 1270s and 80s) while the interior reflects a heavily ornamented Baroque style in the side aisles & chancel; its tower, at 380 feet high is the tallest structure in Bruges & second tallest brickwork tower in the world;; in the church transept is found Michelangelo's sculpture Madonna and Child, the only of sculptures to have left Italy in his lifetime; overall the church is a monument to the wealth, sophistication, taste & devotion of the city
The Basilica of the Holy Blood
built between 1134 & 1157 as the chapel of the Count of Flanders, consists of a lower & upper chapel, the lower chapel is a dark Romanesque structure unchanged since 1157, the upper chapel, rebuilt in the Gothic style in the late 15th century, houses a relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea and brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders. The monumental staircase leading to the upper chapel was built 1529-33 in late Gothic & Renaissance style according to the drawings of Flemish painter and architect William Aerts,& ornamented on the outside with gilded bronze statues represent Archduchess Isabelle of Burgundy, Mary of Burgundy, Thierry of Alsace and Philip of Alsace and, in the medallions, the Archdukes of Austria Albert VII and Maximilian III, Margaret of York and Sibylla of Anjou, wife of Thierry and daughter of King Fulk of Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Chapel
In the 13th century the Adornes family of Genoa, moved to Bruges upon joining the court of the Count of Flanders; they soon assimilated into the city aristocracy & played important roles in administrative & economic life of Bruges; a descendent, Anselm Adornes, became an influential businessman, diplomat and knight & in the 15th century built up the Adornes estate, which consisted of a mansion, several alms houses and the Jerusalem Chapel.
Other impressive churches in Bruges include St. Saviour’s Cathedral and St. James's Church, and from the 17th century St Walburgha’s Church and St Anne’s Church.
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<G>
Nurnberg (old Culture-towns): *
In the 12th century King of Germany Conrad III (1138-52) established a royal castle & officer in Nuremburg, the first royal connection. This title was inherited by the Hohenzollern in 1192. The office gradually diminished as the Hohenstaufen emperors established Nuremberg as the "unofficial capital" of the Holy Roman Empire; the Imperial Diet (Reichstag) & courts met here, key institutes in the administration of the empire. This Imperial connection & growing importance of the city attracted commerce. In 1219 Emperor Frederick II granted the city many liberties (including a mint) making Nuremberg a dominant commercial centre between Italy & N. Europe. Emperor Charles IV (1316-78) gave the city the right to conclude alliances independently, making it a political equal to the princes of the Empire. Charles was patron to the Frauenkirche (built 1352-62, architect Peter Parler) where the court worshipped. The Golden Bull (1356) stipulated newly elected kings of Germany must hold their first Imperial Diet in the city, making Nuremberg one of the great cities of the Empire. Royal & Imperial connections grew stronger under Emperor Sigismund (1433-37). The city accumulated territory although the Hussite Wars (1419-1434), Plague (1437) & the First Margrave War (1449-1450) led to severe falls in population. Gains in the Landshut War of Succession (1503-05) made Nuremburg one of the largest Imperial cities. With wealth came cultural affluence. Nuremberg hosted a rich, varied & influential literary culture; in the 15th & 16th centuries it was a centre for the German Renaissance. Nuremberg was an early centre of humanism, science (especially astronomy), printing & mechanical invention. In 1471 Johannes Mueller of Königsberg built an astronomical observatory here & published many important astronomical charts. Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg; he would create woodcuts of the first maps of the stars of the N. and S. hemispheres, the first printed star charts & first perspective drawing of the terrestrial globe. The city had a music tradition as well. Nuremberg hosted the most famous Meistersinger school of the 16th century. These were guilds of artisans & merchants, who maintained & developed the traditions of the medieval Minnesingers. Printers & publishers have a long history in Nuremberg, many worked with well-known artists of the day to produce books considered works of art. Anton Koberger (1445-1513), godfather of Dürer, whose family lived on the same street, established the first printing house in Nuremberg
Decline.
Decay set in during the early 16th century when competing trade routes, a rigid social hierarchy & inflexible legal structures led to a decline in commerce. The Thirty Yeas War (1618-48) ended Nuremburg’s prominence. Trade declined further; the city was occupied & besieged. The financial cost was great; population shrank by 50%. After the war Nuremberg tried but failed to maintain neutrality; tax revenue was demanded for the War of the Austrian Succession & the Seven Years' War; restrictions on imports & exports deprived the city of markets. Land was lost to Bavaria. Nuremburg was now a weak city with no patron. In 1806 the city was given to Bavaria. Despite this fall from wealth & power Nuremburg saw a late flowering of architecture & culture, in particular secular Baroque architecture as seen in the layout of the civic gardens outside the city walls & in the rebuilding of St. Egidien church (destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 18th century).