Student 6 Exam I Spring 2000

Essay 1 Group 1

The color of the illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen will be presented through two works I have chosen. The first work, "The Cosmic Egg", uses blue, gold, and red. The blue symbolizes maternal, fertile, and a soothing tone. The gold represents the fire of God's burning and the sustaining of life. The red is a symbol of passion and desire. The painting has an egg with water and fire surrounding it. The egg is a shape of a oval represents wholeness. The use of the wavy lines on the egg, fire, and water show the paintings' motion and a little disorder. The use of red and blue in this painting are considered complementary colors and dissonance in music. The painting as a whole symbolized the fertility and rebirth of life. The second example "The Sapphire Man in Blue", uses the color blue. Blue symbolizes the maternal and divine. This painting has a number of shapes and lines. The numerous circles represent infinity and completeness. The square represents earth and stability. The square containing circles shows the unity of earth and heaven. Christ inside the circles shows the unity of heaven and earth. The wavy lines imply motion, while the horizontal imply a calm feeling. The color blue can be associated with a piece of music that is relaxing or calm.

The color illuminations in the Yoruba bead work are easily understood. First the color fun-fun represents the color white or blue. These colors show the cool or calm side of a person. Next, the color pupu represent red, dark yellow, or orange. These colors show the passionate or hot-tempered side of a person. Last, the color dudu represents black, brown, or green. These colors mean earthy, practical, or aloof. For the personality of a person. These colors show the practical or down-to-earth side of a person. Fun-fun would be related to a calming, relaxing piece of music. Pupu would relate to a disordered, loud, and dissonant piece of music. Dudu would be a upbeat, happy piece of music. Two selected musical examples from our class sessions are Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Chopin's Harp Etude. Beethoven's 5th Symphony represents the color black. Black is associated with dark, eerie, and cold. The lines that would be associated with this piece of music would be wavy, because of the constant changing of register and keys. This piece is a good example of a minor tonality, because of the sad or unhappy tone.

Chopin's Harp Etude represents the colors red or orange. These colors show the upbeat music. This piece is considered major tonality also, because of the upbeat, happy tone. Wavy lines can be associated with this piece as well, due to the upbeat constant motion felt from the music.

Group II - Essay 1

The Cathedral of Chartres has many architectural features. The painted arch gives a feeling of the heavens, because the point has an imaginary line towards the heavens. The flying buttress is used as a support, but it also is associated with wavy lines because of the bird it has. The shape of a cross on the outside of the building represents God and the crucifixion. It also represents an relationship with God. The cathedral faces the east so the sun can shed light into it. As you enter the Cathedral of Chartres from the west facade there is a nave. The nave is an enormous sized room that shows your insignificance compared to God. God is the almighty and you cannot be compared to God. The nave also has an imaginary line toward the heavens as you look up to the ceiling. The Royal Portal is located in the west facade. It has three doors, each with different angles. The three doors represents the trinity. The left door shows Christ ascending into heaven. The center door is Christ's judgment. It also has the twelve apostles below it, which are separated into 3 groups of four. Twelve representing the perfection of the cosmos, three represents the perfection of the spiritual world, and four represents the perfection of the material world. The right door shows Christ sitting on Mary's knee with the seven liberal arts, which represents knowledge. The Royal Portal shows the harmony of heaven and earth, as well as, the harmony of knowledge and the cosmos. The Jesse Window has Jesse in the far left corner with God and Mary in a tree to the left. The green tree represents growth. Above the tree is the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection window represents Christ's time on earth. The Resurrection Window shows Christ's resurrection and crucifixion. The Rose Window is Christ's judgment. The Blue Virgin Mary uses the color blue to represent divinity. She gave birth to the Child of God. All of these windows are good examples of the use of stained glass windows to tell stories. The sancta camisia was believed to be the cloak worn by the Virgin Mary at the annunciation or at the birth of Christ.

The Cathedral of Chartres is definitely a piece of art because it has a function or purpose. The purpose was to honor the Virgin Mary and to hold her holy relics. Also the Cathedral represents the importance of God through the stained glass windows, nave, cross shape, significant numbers used, pointed arches, and many other aspects. The Cathedral of Chartres is a beautiful piece of art.

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