Who Were the Sea Peoples?

A wonderful passage from Mark Anthony Signorelli over at The University Bookman : We are too often misled by our study of the history of art, and the unmistakable stories of development it encompasses, to believe that there was something fated or necessary about these developments. We study Giotto’s innovations in modeling the human form, and Massacio’s use of perspective, and trace the development of these techniques through the work of Ucello and della Francesca and Mantegna, and then their apotheosis in the paintings of Leonardo and Raphael. We find the narrative of this period of art so progressive and coherent, so evidently moving in an explicable direction, that we find ourselves almost instinctively assuming there was something fated about this development, that the frescoes of the Stanza della Segnatura were somehow contained, in embryo, in the Holy Trinity at Santa Maria Novella. We are too apt to forget the thousands of conscious, deliberate choices, made by dozens of ind...

Overheard on the bus: Woman art major: Yeah, all of my teachers were like, "What's this? I don't get it." Male art major: No, no, that's when you know you nailed it: no one can understand it. Woman art major: [Sounding uncertain.] But, like, shouldn't other artists at least have some idea what you're doing? Male art major: No way!

The question, when asked of a work of art, displays an ignorance of the nature of art, and is a request that all art take the form of propaganda or children's educational tales. Here is Dorothy Sayers on the topic: "And it is desirable to bear in mind -- when dealing with the human maker at any rate -- that his chosen way of revelation is through his works. To persist in asking, as so many of us do, "What did you mean by this book?" is to invite bafflement: the book itself is what the writer means." -- The Mind of the Maker , p. 45

I was reading the letters to the editor in a local paper, and someone wanted to say some "artists" had gone too far. But he had to lead off with the disclaimer, "Yes, I know art is all about pushing the boundaries." Well, I suppose if you have the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old, maybe it is. I tend to think art is "all about" creating works that will inspire a sense of wonder in your audience. But perhaps I'm just a stick-in-the-mud in thinking that sticking a crucifix in a jar of urine does not really compare with the Mona Lisa.