Search for the Sacred Part 2

Aztec feathered god, Quezaltoatl

Art can express dual purposes:

a god’s power as well as a devotee’s respect

Shango dance wand from the Yoruba people in

Africarepresents the powers of the

god---fertility and righteous fury.

Shows the submission and respect of the

worshipper

Art can morph a god to fit a new religion:

forbidden spirits can be blended into the accepted deity system

What can’t be cured should be endured.

Develop inner beauty to overcome harsh consequences.

Babalu Aye God of illness and disease to the Yoruba people, turned into St. Lazarus, Catholic saint of healing, in Cuban Santeria practice.

Dogs lick both saint/orisha’s wounds.

Orisha= a spirit that reflects god in Yoruba system

Yoruba culture50 million people inpresent day Nigeria and Benin, western Africa

Golden age= 1100-1700 CE

Slave trade (sometimes called the African holocaust) in the 18th and 19th century brought Yoruba customs and ritual to the Caribbean

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ZoroasterAncient monotheist religion, beginning around 600 BCE in Persia

(modern day Iran)

“He of the golden light”

Human’s struggle between good and evil will play out in the last judgment, where their bodies will be reunited with their souls. Fire represents order and justice.

Where else is fire used in religious symbolism?

Persian miniature illumination as illustration for sacred text

Hildegard, 11th century German abbess, had visions of God, now thought to be migraines

Sometimes it is argued that God should not be represented in art. After all, who are we to presume that we know what he/she looks like?

• Written in Arabic by Mohammed as a revelation by God

• Can only be read in Arabic, therefore, script becomes holy

• Knowledge and learning highly prized

The Koran---Islamic Holy Text Hebrew—the Holy Script of JudaismOt=letter=wondrous sign

No Graven Images?

Iconoclasm---Greek: “image breaking”are representations of God or saints “graven images”?

• Iconoclastic controversy began in the Byzantine world with edict of 726 CE prohibiting religious images---rulers killed over differences

• Byzantine Emperor Leo III strictly interpreted the Ten Commandments… “thou shalt make no graven images”

In the 8th and 9th centuries, forbidding graven images turned into war:

•Finally ended in 843 CE by a later Empress Theodora, wife of Emperor Theophilus, who loved her “graven images”---icons

In Northern Europe of the 16th century, Calvinism, a strict offshoot of Protestantism, also forbade graven images, resulting in the burning of many treasured works of religious art.In 1566 CE, a large campaign to “cleanse churches” resulted in thousands of paintings being destroyed.

In Florence during the Renaissance, a strict monk named Savanarola urged all people to give up their graven images to create a Bonfire of the Vanities (the most infamous was in 1497). Botticelli was a disciple.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan• Two enormous buddha

statues from the 6th century, built next to the silk road in Afghanistan. 180 feet and 121 feet high. Carved directly from the sandstone cliffs.

• Cited by UNESCO as a world heritage sight.

• Intentionally dynamited and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 because they were “idols.”

The Many Faces of Buddha

Tibetan Buddha, gilt bronze, 9th-10th century.Meditation as an Enlightened Being.

Chinese Bodhisattva, wood, 11th century. Wise and compassionate living on earth as the path to Enlightenment.How do these two statues

differ in form to convey differences in spirit?

Vietnamese Happy Buddha

Naim June Paik--TV Buddha

A 1974 video showing Buddha staring at a screen of himself in an endless loop. Self vs perception of self.