Spiritual Journeys: Dante And St Augustine

Spiritual Journeys Dante And St AugustineThe individual spiritual journeys of Dante in the Divine buffoonery and St. Augustine in the Confessions are quite similar, as each man searches for divine love and grace, and true eternal closeness to God. Both Dante and St. Augustine admired and were heavily influenced by Virgil, the classical Roman poet of the Aeneid, in their writing and works however, because of their strong Christian faith, Dante and Augustine also make it clear in their autobiographical accounts that Virgils pagan beliefs can non receive salvation, or every(prenominal)ow the soul to enter heaven after death.Dantes journey begins with the poet being portrayed as spiritually lost in sin, in the darkness of woods, when a guide is sent to him in the form of the ancient Roman poet Virgil, who represents human power and wisdom. Virgil tells Dante that the only way out of the darkness is for Virgil to lead him through cuckoos nest and Purgatory, in order for Dante to recog nize the nature of sin and the consequences of his actions. Once Virgil has guided Dante to the top of Mount Purgatory, where the renunciation and rejection of sin occurs, Virgil tells the Pilgrim that he can no long-range accomp whatsoever him on his final journey to Heaven, because human agreement cannot reach the ultimate height of Paradise. Dante is lead instead to Heaven by his beloved Beatrice, who is in a flash living as one of the blessed in the afterlife, and who also symbolizes divine love.Much like Dante, St. Augustines journey also begins with his confessions as being spiritually lost, peculiarly in his earlier years as a sinful youth, turning away from God, and preoccupied with only worldly desires and needs of the flesh. St. Augustine implores in Book VI of his Confessions, Thou hadst made me wiser, yet did I walk in darkness, and in slippery places, and sought Thee abroad out of myself, found not the God of my boob and had come into the depths of the sea, and dis trusted and discouragemented of ever finding accuracy (Augustine 94). Here St. Augustine talks about the darkness he walked in during his early life, very similar to Dantes struggle and despair in his own dark woods of sin, where Virgil finds him in the beginning of the Inferno. St. Augustine describes his spiritual void and emptiness further, stating, And I perceived myself to be far off from Thee God, in the region of unlikeness (134). In this declaration, St. Augustine is associating his galore(postnominal) sins with a region of unlikeness, which causes him to wander aimlessly without direction or purpose, becoming hopelessly lost.Whereas Dantes descent into Hell in the Inferno is some(prenominal) dramatically real and an allegorical representation of his souls journey towards God, St. Augustines Confessions represents a metaphorical rather than physical journey of the soul, as Augustine searches for divine truth and grace. However, both men view this spiritual descent as nec essary in order for the human soul to attain ultimate closeness to God. An good example of this is expressed by St. Augustine in Book IV of his Confessions, when he states, Even now, after the descent of Life to you, will ye not ascend and live? but whither ascend ye, when ye are on high, and set your mouth against the heavens? Descend, that ye may ascend, and ascend to God. For ye have fallen, by ascending against Him (64). Further more than, according to John Freccero, author of Dante The Poetics of Conversion, In the spiritual life, one must descend in humility in front one can begin the ascent to truth, and in the physical world, according to both Dante and Aristotle, one must travel downward with respect to our hemisphere in order to rise (74). This spiritual belief of descending in humility before one can rise again is clearly echoed by both Dante and St. Augustine in their poetic works regarding Christian faith.Virgil, the pagan Roman poet of the Aeneid, also plays an pri ncipal(prenominal) role in the autobiographical accounts of Dante and St. Augustine as nearly. Dante uses Virgil as his guide to illustrate Virgils supreme human reason and intellect during his journey, as advantageously as punctuate Dantes he fraudfelt admiration for the classical Roman poet. However, to demonstrate and make clear his devout and strict Christian beliefs, Dante places Virgil in Limbo, the first circle of Hell, along with separate virtuous pagan Roman poets of the past. Dantes placement of Virgil and the other non-Christians is all-important(a), since they can never be allowed to enter Paradise because of their pagan beliefs. Virgil himself understands this divine judgment delivered by God, when he states to the poet Sordello in Canto VII, I am deprived of Heaven for no fault other than my lack of faith (Alighieri et al. 56). Dante shows that despite Virgils moral perfection, he was without faith, and human reason alone can never reach Heaven.St. Augustine also admired the Roman poet Virgil during his early life, and being a successful teacher of rhetoric, Augustine understood very well a life led by reason. However, he, like Dante, discovers that reason alone is not enough to gain salvation from God, and as a result, was spiritually lost, anguish by temptation and sin. Thus, St. Augustine too realizes it is only when one has true faith in God that eternal salvation can be achieved. As Olson reminds us, Augustine testifies to how reason puts man on the road toward God, and how it is only faith that informs and elevates reason, taking it beyond its natural limitations while never being tyrannical or confining in any way. St. Augustine summarized this seemingly paradoxical fact in the famous dictum, I believe, in order to understand and I understand, the better to believe (Augustines Confessions).History of Portraiture Changes in Styles and TechniquesHistory of Portraiture Changes in Styles and TechniquesThe immemorial fascination of mans o wn image and of those of his fellow human beings arose a desire in men to attempt and illustrate his likeliness into a physical medium. However at the time portrait was exclusive to those who wished to celebrate mans relationship with God and the divine rulers of the times, which makes the Renaissance a subversive era for portraiture and the development or artist techniques. The common consequences of royalty and wealth were joined together with the trivial and oppressed, giving artists around the world more latitude to delve into painting intricate and thought-provoking portraits to be cherished for centuries. Deciding to undertake the task of compiling the substantial triumphs for portraiture styles and methods over time, I plan to introduce it in the span of six notable art movements and cover the to the highest degree significant artist of the time. The theme portraiture hold a special place in my heart, its enigmatic and flexible principles give the artist the upmost freedo m to depict people in a way that suits them. Its a theme that lasted through the test of time, becoming more and more popular as the centuries turn.Jan Van Eyck was a powerful visionary in fifteenth century with his ascertain of linear perspective and capticating interiors that bathed in golden lights, his art sank into oblivion until the 1930s. Expressing a new awareness of reality through the use of anele paint, he crafted remarkable paintings and portraits that had remarkable attention to detail, observation of nature and light, and constructing spaces steeped in elegant interior which inhabited realistic characters. His watchful positioning, golden lights and expert command of the technique of oil painting made him one of the most significant representative of the Renaissance art movement. His style and technique was a step up from the less realistic depiction of human forms by the then pre-Renaissance artists Giotto di Bondone and Cimabue.As the 17th century approached, the subject for painters was changing as the patrons no longer served an essential role in the choice of subjects and composition. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted people who were then counted as trivial peasants appeared alongside sovereigns and saints, crafting a new approach to portraiture for his time. At the beginning of his artistic career he broke through with his loose interpretations of traditional subjects, painting the first still life in the history of art as a subject in itself and knowingly portrayed saints as everyday people. The conventions of his time didnt worry him, nor did the already established art guidelines. He did not make primary sketches but place the paint straight to the canvas, using the foundation coats as an artistic element. The early works of the artist revealed his love of poetic naturalism that was inspired by his everyday life. Caravaggios approach to chiaroscuro (the artistic play of light and shadow) was a clear departure from the art conv entions of Mannerism. These conventions found their way into the most significant Baroque and Rococo artists.In the 18th century, a new freedom became apparent with the French painters as they began portraying a carefree and debauchee behavior of society consistently in their artwork. The most noteworthy artist of the time was the Rococo painter Franois Boucher. He was highly adept in many forms of media as he switched traditional bright oil paints to forms of decorative art. Adopting a high tone palette that favoured blues and pinks, he set a decided foundation for most paintings of dream-like quality. His paintings of beautiful women in rich silk clothing endorsed scenes of erotic and passionate love. Oil and gouache sketches were common in preparation for his bigger commissions as his careful attention to finer background detail made the scene more poignant and alive, filling it with character and passion. The dream like qualities of his prominent artwork carried on into the tr iumph or love affair.The spirituality and the influences from the previous eras stimulated the imagination of artists around the world. The art historian and theoretician of colouring, Eugne Delacroix was and still is the acknowledged master of Romanticism and one of the last great decorative painters. His passion for colours and the depiction of lively composition is reflected in his canvas won the admiration of the public. Everything is the subject the subject is yourself our impressions, your emotions when faced with nature. he professed. His skill in the thick impasto unified well with his choice of colours, giving his paintings the form of a sketch. The innovative take on colour, the pure(a) shades and the use of rich varnishes spayd the way most artists composed their portraits and subject matters, crafting their styles to match Delacroixs. The analytical approach to colour is recognised in almost all realism, impressionism and art nouveu paintings that dominated the early 20th century.The creations of Vincent Van Gogh, albeit spanning over a short period of ten years, contained distinguishing marks of his life and the tourment he endoured as well as the places he lived in. The canvases beared his trademark frantic colours and figures in the form of various self-portraits, landscapes and scenes from ordinary day to day life. His impact on art gave colour a new meaning in the works of artists and put forth a new style in which the painter can place his rinse on the canvas. A new approach to light and colour enabled him to go beyond both Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, enabling his style in his self-portraits to experience a change that brough critisim upon him at the time. The intense expressiveness, accompanied by a turmoil of brush strokes produced a new wave of artists stimulated to create more illusive and conventionalized paintings to continue the tradition of expressive portraiture.