Gothic Rose Window

The north rose window from Notre Dame in Paris combines nature and geometry beautifully. The concentric circles divided into sections resembles petals of a flower, as well as the figures around the bottom curves of the main circle. At the end of each "petal" there is a circle that contains figures of saints and religious figures. Apart from the figures in the circles, the rose window is decorated with geometric and organic designs. The tracery alone is stunning in the rose window, the stained glass adds beautiful colors and detail to the window. Nature was considered valuable enough to be included in an elaborate cathedral, but only in a modified organized form. Symmetry and order were more desirable than a realistic version of a flower.

Romanesque Art

This carving from the Maria Laach Abbey shows the devil next to a dog like creature. The animal, grapes, and vines are idealized, but still very beautiful. The dog's neck is turning, giving us a strange view of the dog, dogs could never do this in real life. The designs are more symmetrical than they would be in nature. This relief looks like a fusion of Roman and Greek styles and is further progressed toward realism compared to the medieval period. I think in this particular carving, nature is used more ornamentally and less symbolically than other examples of art I've looked at so far on this blog. This could be because as greater achievements by man are made, such as large buildings, advancements in science, and so on, nature is less revered because man is dominating it and can control it more, as well as escape from the weather.

Early Medieval relief

This ivory relief was likely a decorated gospel cover of Mark. It shows Mark at his desk with his gospel symbol, the lion, over him. During medieval times animals were very important to people. Evidence of this is given in art and the fact that each gospel writer had his own animal. Mark was the lion, Luke an ox, and John's symbol was the eagle. Matthew was the only gospel writer without an animal symbol, he was shown as an angel. King Richard also had an animal associated nickname, which was King Richard the Lionhearted. During this time period it is clear that animals were highly regarded since they were worthy of being associated with kings and saints. Animals held symbolic meaning in the medieval times, lions represented courage, lambs represented patience and humility, goats symbolized victory, and so on. These animals were given wings to represent their connection to the divine.

Islamic Art

This example of Islamic art was done in the around the year 1540. There are six tiles that compose a repeating pattern of flowers. In Islamic mosques and places of worship, animals and human figures were not permitted as acceptable forms of art since they were seen as idols.  However, it was not uncommon for human figures and animals to be depicted in art outside of the traditional Muslim places of worship. This piece shows a repeating pattern of the same plant and is done in shades of blue to make it appear that it is night time. This flower is not fairly naturalistic, but not quite right. The flowers are too large if this plant is a tree and too abundant if this plant is a non woody stemmed species. I am impressed that there are some neighboring plants shown next to the main one. This might just be the fear of empty space, but it could also show the plants that grew next to each other and a small picture of a larger ecosystem. This plant may be a fruit tree because of its blossoms, but is also valued for its aesthetic qualities since it is being repeated so often.

Byzantine Manuscript

This page comes from an illuminated manuscript of the bible illustrated during the Byzantine period. There are lots of organic shapes in this drawing sample. Flowers, vines, and a snake are depicted in a very small space. These organic lines differ a lot from earlier nature depictions, which show more rigid and orderly nature. An interesting thing about this artwork is that while the snake, vines, and flowers are organic, none of them are realistic. The coloring isn't something that you would find in nature and the actual flowers themselves don't exist in reality. The snake is also not something you would see in real life, but it is easy for the viewer to tell what they represent. All of these things lead me to believe that nature was thought of as beautiful in the Byzantine times, but could be made more beautiful and interesting with alterations. Nature must have been valued aesthetically as a concept, but perceived with greater interest and beauty if non natural colors and physiology was fused with nature.

Late Antiquity Art

This fresco is from the Late Antiquity period in art history. We can see that all of the men are riding horses in this picture, and the man in the center is riding a chariot with two horses pulling him. It looks like in this instance and time in history that horses are seen as a status symbol, and the more horses you owned, the more powerful and wealthy you were perceived. The background is flat and plain. You cannot see a ground line, any trees, the sky, or any other indication of nature in this piece besides the horses. Animals are an indicator of wealth, but crops, gardening, fruit growing were viewed as an activity of the poor, so it wasn't often depicted in this period of art.

Roman Landscapes

This Roman landscape was found in Pompeii. Roman art incorporated landscapes, while Greek art did not. This landscape shows the city as well as some local nature. This landscape is somewhat impressionistic and shows depth and perspective somewhat accurately.  This landscape shows people interacting with the stream, trees, and goats around them. I doubt that this is a depiction of a real place since the goats are in a shrub and grass less area and the pond looks more like a section of a stream that appears and disappears out of no where.  I think this fresco accurately shows how people and nature interacted in the Roman era. The people seem to be enjoying themselves, but these activities are not done purely for leisure, herding and fishing are the livelihood of many Romans.

Greek art

This marble relief sculpture dated 450 BCE is a tender work showing a girl with two doves.  This is one of the first images depicting humans and nature as sort of equals.  The girl's mouth is touching one of the dove's beak, a gesture reserved for married couples.  This indicates the union of nature and humans during the Greek era.  She is holding the doves closely and they seem to be calm in her hands.  In art from earlier periods, nature was shown to be reverenced and humans were dominated by it and subject to its mercy.  This relief shows a much gentler approach towards animals and nature. Doves are not lions though, this image is a step towards harmony between man and nature, but many animals were still feared at the time.

Prehistoric Aegean Fresco

This fresco is found at the Palace in Knossos on the Greek island Crete.  This fresco is in the Queen's Hall. This depiction of marine life shows us how much the Aegean people appreciated their local marine life.  Simple dolphins and fish with some aegean decoration are shown in this fresco. Because an art work with these animals are in the queen's hall, they must have been seen as not only a necessary food source, but also worthy of a spot in a palace.  These animals are not very detailed, and don't seem to be in motion, but since they are decorated, we can assume they had a special place in society. Contemporary art of this period is similarly two-demential with humans being indistinguishable from each other, so dolphins and fish are depicted this way not because they are unimportant, but because that was merely the style of art at the time.  The Aegean people's lives were intertwined with the sea and sea animals were part of everyone's life.

Ancient Near Eastern

This bull head was discovered in present day Iraq in the 1920's.  It is elaborate, brightly colored and very decorated.  The bull was given some human aspects when it was created.  The bull's eyes, frown and furrowed brows are all very human quality.  I think that this suggests animals were viewed as very important during this time period and valued probably just as much as humans.  Humans were very vulnerable to nature at this point in history and were dominated by it.  Since this bull is made out of gold, I'm assuming it was an image of sacred origin, showing animals (and nature) dominated this early civilization and were a determining factor in a lot of their day-to-day activities and way of life.  During this time in history (2200 BCE) metal work was being developed and experimented with.  This bull figure is an example of the beginnings of metal work in the Ancient Near East.

Egyptian Art

Egyptians had a deep respect for nature and in many ways worshipped it. Animals and plants found their way into hieroglyphs, sacred architecture and paintings. Modern biologists can identify the species of many plants and animals depicted on hieroglyphics, while humans were painted unrealistically, showing us plants and animals were well studied and of great importance in ancient Egypt. This sculpture of a cat is adorned with gold jewelry and an intricate necklace. The cat also looks very poised and dignified, showing how cats were viewed during this time period.  Egyptians had many gods that had the head of an animal and some that were a complete animal. Many plants and natural phenomenas were an integral part of Egyptian life in addition to animal worship and respect. The annual flooding of the Nile, the stars, the moon, and the sun were all studied and reverenced. During this time, cats were thought important enough to be mummified, a burial process reserved for influential and wealthy Egyptians.  In 1888 an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb containing over eighty thousand cat and kitten mummies. There have only been around three thousand human mummies discovered, leading us to believe that cats and other animals and things of nature were very important to ancient Egyptians.