The dissolution of the intellectual dark age of the Greek and the Roman brought what would be the rebirth in literature, science, religion, politics and would sculpt the art world as we know it today. A bridge from the dark ages to the modern era, and at the crest of this cultural movement, Michelangelo, Leonardo da vinci and other masters would prevail as the blue print of true Renaissance men. The renaissance took place from roughly the 14th to the 17th century. With it’s origins in Italy, and continuing to the rest of Europe by the 16th century.
One of the internal forces that drove and supported this epic art movement was the Medici family. A banking family and ducal ruling house, which would lead in supporting the growth for such influential artist, with Lorenzo de Medici commissioning works from Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. This period in time would not only encourage a new way of self awareness, but a way to leave your signature in art. Classical masterpieces would echo in eternity, The Pieta and David by Michelangelo, the countless medical studies and sketches by Leonardo de Vinci one being the Vitruvian Man, a sketch illustrating a perfectly proportioned man. Hundreds of years later what we translate as beautiful holds roots to a time when men had a passion for art, humanism, and the ability to create it with nothing more than by the hands God gave them. From architecture, to politics and to the way we personify the creation of man; the renaissance would be the marker by mankind would be measured.

                                                                                        by Tassili Ledezma

The Gothic Era: The Era of the Amazing Architecture

It can be stated that throughout history great works of art and architecture were developed such as the Egyptian Pyramids and The Great Wall of China. The Gothic Era brought out even more intricate architecture. During the Gothic Era, the great cathedrals came about. The building of these cathedrals began in 1200 AD-1400 AD. These cathedrals were composed of some specific “structural innovations” which include pointed arches and vaults, ribs, and flying buttresses. These innovations make these architectural works stand out when compared to other works. The Royal Abbey of St. Denis, located in Paris, started the whole idea of the amazing cathedrals. Other cathedrals that were created include Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, and Saint-Maclou. Most cathedrals were created with many windows. In the windows of Notre-Dame, for example, the Life of Jesus is represented. Most of the cathedrals are located in Europe, since this is where the Gothic Era began. Now, we have seen what these amazing architectural works look like, but what are their purposes? The cathedrals were built as a symbol of god, his power, and how much people respect him. The word cathedral comes from the Greek noun καθέδρα (cathedra) which means seat and refers to the presence of the bishops’ chair or throne. From these meanings we can conclude that the cathedrals were for religious purposes and that they were very sacred. Even though some cathedrals were destroyed, we have the privilege of having some still standing today, even here in our United States.       

                                          

posted by MGR

The Plague Doctor

The black death plague caused by the bubonic, Pneumonic and Septicemic pathogen that decimated the European population by around 30-50 percent. It is estimated that during 1400s the world population was 450 millions but the plague reduced the population down between 350-375 millions. During that time many people fled to different cities and many were doctors. Because of the shortage of doctors, many ordinary people became the plague doctor.










The characteristic of the plague doctor is the uniform they wear which entirely compose of black garment and a beak mask.


The black hat they wear is coated with wax to protect the head.



The mask has two eyes which is cover by the eye glass and inside the mask is stuffed with herbs and fragrance materials to filter the foal air.


The full length gown is made out of thick cloth and was wax for extra protection and the underneath the gown is a leather breeches; the boots is also full length. 


The gloves are also made out of leather and cane is wooden used to tear open cloths, examine and to shoo away people without touching them.


The plague doctor often recommended several remedies that suppose to ward off or to cure the disease such as carrying around flowers or strong perfume to filter the air because they believed the air carries diseases; drinking hot water to sweat away the disease; using leeches to remove the infected blood; smoke tobacco to ward off disease; take a lot of laxative to create bowel movement to remove the disease; finally coating the victim with mercury and put them in a oven to burn off the diseases. 


Many plague doctors are ordinary people who have little or no medical knowledge and were hired by the city. They treated the poor and the rich and their recommended cure often leaded to injury and death.


As you can see the mask and the entire costume are very similar to our modern equipment to quarantine radio active materials and medical hazards and perhaps many of our modern equipments draw inspiration from the ancient. 


Team 1 by Minh N. 

Indian Art and Culture by Grace Pittman

The Indian culture is rooted with deep spiritual emphasis.  Hinduism, which originated in Indian, is the third largest religion in the world and one of the oldest religions in history. The history of Hinduism is believed to date back to as early as 1500 B.C.E. Unlike most religions, Hinduism focuses on the oneness of the universe and everything in it. Buddhism is also a major religion that originated in India. Both of these religions are similar and focus on the transmission of the soul, called samsara. Indian art is most commonly reflective of the spiritual and religious beliefs, unlike other civilizations that focus in superficial beauty and adoration for humans. 

Indian art is elegant, beautiful, elaborate, inspirational, and very unique. The Indian arts, including poetry, have themes of devotion to the gods and love for the earth.

The Gate of the Great Stupa is elaborately decorated with the laws of Buddha, stories of his life, and tales of animal incarnation.

 It is over 30 feet tall with beautiful depicted elephants, peacocks, and protective female earth spirits.

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                                                                                                                This seated Buddha with its calm expression, plain clothing, and pose is reflective of the Buddhist religion and their ways of life.

Pythagorians: Ideas ahead of their time in Classical Greece

When you think of great philosophers of classical Greece three names typically come to mind; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. While it is true that these men were very important in developing Great ideas and had a large part to do with the development of science; one man and his followers are often overlooked or understated in the importance of their idea's. This man being Pythagoras and his followers the Pythagoreans.
While very little is known about pythagoras himself and no real evidence can be given as to credit him directly with any theories or ideas. There are ideas that can be traced back to the Pythagoreans as a whole and through this are often credited to Pythagoras himself even though they may have been ideas derived from one of his many followers.

The Pythagoreans were a religious cult who's philosophy and rituals were developed by Pythagoras himself. This cult also known as the Pythagorean Brotherhood ( it is believed to have allowed woman to participate) believed in the Idea that the universe was not chaos incarnate, as was the common belief of most philosophers of the time, but was actually an ordered universe who's structure could be discovered through the use of mathematics.  This Idea would lead them to many theories that actually still have relevance today.

The most famous of these theories is the Pythagorean theorem which states, "In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle)."
Is the equation form of this theorem.

Another theory developed by the Pythagoreans that is less well known is the idea that the earth not only rotated on an axis but also revolved around another celestial body. This was an idea that would be brushed aside for the next 2000 years until Copernicus citing the Pythagoreans as important predecessor to his ideas published  De revolutionibus orbium coelestium or On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in 1543(which stated that the earth was one of 9 celestial bodies revolving around the sun).

The final important theory I would like to introduce is the Pythagoreans Idea that Music was and sound was measurable by mathematics and  that "musical notes vary in accordance with the length of a vibrating string; whatever length of string a lute player starts with, if it is doubled the note always falls by exactly an octave" (still the basis of the scale in music today).

So while little is know about Pythagoras himself it can be said with certainty that the Pythagoreans as a whole have had an understated impact on both science and the world.

The chinese religion

There are many religions that influenced China but the most popular one are Ethnic religion, Taoism, and Buddhism. Ethnic religion is worshiping many deities such as clan deities, national deities, city deities, cultural heroes, dragons and dead ancestor. 

Taoism was unintentionally created by Laozu when he wrote the Tao Te Ching. Tao mean the way, Te means "virtue" in the sense of "personal character", "inner strength", or "integrity." and Ching means "canon", "great book". The book is written in classical chinese, span over 81 sections and contain over 5000 chinese character. The school of Taoism focuses on health, longevity, immorality and we wei (non-action) and spontaneity. Overtime Taoism expanded it focuses on alchemy, astrology, martial arts, traditional medicines, fengshui and qigong.   

Buddhism is the most popular religion in China with over 660 millions of believers which accounts over 50% of the Chinese population. Probably the most recognized Buddhist figure is the Dalai Lama which believed is the several incarnations of the original Dalai Lama Gendun Drup. The current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. 

The Statue of haizu statue

The city god temple in Beijing

Probably one of the most recognized symbol in the world is the Yin and Yang which belongs to Taoism.

The Chinese Buddhist monk ceremony

The grandmaster meditating