Ancient Art Podcast, Ancient Worlds

http://ancientartpodcast.org/91

In this excerpt from my lecture on the Art Institute's recent special exhibition Painting the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Masterpieces from the Weston Collection, I set the stage for what was Japan's Floating World culture during the Edo Period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1615-1868. We touch on the origin of the term, the cultural climate in which it rose the popularity, and how the floating world psyche was expressed in Japan's visual arts at the time.

Image:

Hishikawa Moronobu

Flower-Viewing Party with Crest-Bearing Curtain, from the series Flower Viewing at Ueno

Japanese, 1676–1689

Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.1689

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In this excerpt from a recent tour, I explore some of the highlights from Homer's Odyssey in a 15th century Florentine painting and learn a little about Italian Renaissance marriage and fidelity. Names and terms dropped: Homer, Odysseus, Penelope, Nausica, cyclops, Polyphemus, the Sirens, Hermes, moly, Circe, Calypso, Argos, Apollonio di Giovanni, James Joyce, Trojan War, Tuscan, gilding; important terms not dropped: cassone.

For images of the featured work of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/89.

Featured Work of Art:

Apollonio di Giovanni

Italian, 1415/17-1465

The Adventures of Ulysses, 1435/45

42 x 131.7 cm (16 3/4 x 51 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.1006

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In this short excerpt from my lecture on Tibetan Buddhist art, we skim the surface of the spiritual meaning, function, and structure of Tibetan mandalas.

For images of the featured works of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/88.

Featured Works of Art:

Drepung Gomang Monastery

Mandala of World Peace

September 21, 2014

Miller Beach, Indiana

Photo by Lucas Livingston, ancientartpodcast.org/88

Arjia Rinpoche

Architectural Model of the Kalachakra Mandala

researchdtmack.com/mandalas.html

Tibet

Mandala

18th/19th century

Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton and wood

35.2 x 35.2 x 5.4 cm

The James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (151.1996)

From Pal, Pratapaditya, A Collecting Odyssey, 1997, fig. 210.

Tibet

Mandala

18th/19th century

Opaque watercolor and gold on wood

26.7 x 26.7 x 12.8 cm (10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 5 in)

The James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (150.1996)

Gallery label: Mandala, literally meaning "circle," is a diagram of the spiritual universe that is used as a meditational device. The circle encloses a sacred area, into which the devotee enters via meditation. The only figures shown in this abstract mandala are the demons who inhabit the charnel ground within the circle of flames. The central hexagon is a yantra (a meditation device) that symbolizes the combination of masculine and feminine aspects, shown as two overlapping triangles. Their union induces cosmic harmony. A circle connects the points of the hexagon, symbolizing the unification of the souls of everything living and divine.

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http://ancientartpodcast.org/87

This is a short excerpt from my lecture "Things That Go Bump: A Visual Survey of Witches, Demons, and Ghosts." Herein we explore the ancient Greek tradition of witchcraft and metamorphosis in two images — one ancient and one modern — of Circe, the definitive witch of Grecian lore and seductive sorceress of Odyssean fame. Waterhouse masterfully betrays her jealous cruelty in those cold, dark, uncaring eyes. Vying for the affection of a handsome lover, the hateful witch Circe poisons the placid pool where the her rival Scylla bathed. Circe's potion of polymorphism transforms the beautiful nymph Scylla to the proverbial "hard place," the loathsome multi-mawed many-tentacled monster, who'd dash the hopes (...and heads) of Odysseus's men sailing "between Scylla and Charybdis." And in the Grecian cup in the MFA, we see a magical elixir similarly perched in wicked Circe's hands while Odysseus's men are in the midst of metamorphosis from her arcane magicks.

For images of the featured works of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/87.

Featured Works of Art:

John William Waterhouse

Circe Invidiosa (Jealous Circe), 1892

South Australian Government Grant 1892

Art Gallery of South Australia

Drinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey

Greek, Archaic Period, about 560-550 BC

The Painter of the Boston Polyphemos

© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (99.518)

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Happy Halloween! In this very brief excerpt from my lecture "Things That Go Bump: A Visual Survey of Witches, Demons, and Ghosts," we introduce Goya's 1797/99 published volume The Caprices (Los Caprichos). This tome of nightmares, witches, and devils satirizes human vice and intolerance of late 18th century Spanish society through the demons born of religion and power. We conclude with a brief glimpse at our modern icon of the Wicked Witch through the lens of art history and tradition. For greater depth, background, and context, watch episode 59, A Witches' Sabbath.

For images of the featured works of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/86.

Featured Work of Art:

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)

"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," plate 43

"When Day Breaks We Will Be Off," plate 71

"Pretty Teacher!" Plate 68

From Los Caprichos, 1797/99

(Museo Nacional del Prado)

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