The History of Philosophical Ideas and Their Expression in Art

As we have mentioned before, the Romans adopted Greek inventions and developed them on a much larger scale. In Ancient Roman Villas – country houses of nobility rectangular in their shape – they combined Perystilium (a garden surrounded by columns reminding of the Medieval Cloister) and Atrium (the most important part where the guests were greeted) complemented by Compluvium (a square roof opening) and Impluvium (a pool for rainwater). Villas in Pompeii were richly decorated with frescoes of different styles – creating the illusion of marble or panoramic view (like “a window”), emphasizing the flatness of the wall with figures “floating” on it or reintroducing architecture and jumbling together fragments of buildings – and all of them can be seen at the House of Vettii.

And yet, there was a tendency in Roman Philosophy towards individualism and agnosticism (Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism). People were more interested in entertainments, such as Gladiatorial Fights, execution of Christians at the Colosseum and Nero’s singing. It is said that Nero ordered to burn Rome in order to clear the space for his new palace – Domus Aurea designed by Fabulus. It was embellished with gold and decorated with Grotesques which inspired Raphael to create his Loggias in Vatican (and we also have their copies at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg). After the Emperor’s death the Golden House was filled with earth and built over (Flavian Amphitheater, Baths of Trajan, etc.). By the way, the plan of the Trajan’s Forum reminds of the embracing arms of the Bernini Colonnade, while the structure of Caldarium – a special room with hot water pool at the Roman Baths which had a dome with an opening or oculus – calls to mind the Octagonal Room in the Domus Aurea and the Pantheon. Surprisingly enough, there even was an Ancient Roman Baroque Style, in other words, architects used traditional vocabulary in a different way including too ornate decoration, projections, recessions and broken pediments in their projects (for example, the Market Gate of Miletus in Berlin).

Homer is considered to be the father of Western Civilization and Vergil’s “Aeneid” as an epic traces the general form of “The Iliad” (which tells us about Achilles who managed to overcome his rage and returned Hector’s body to this father Priam) and “The Odyssey” (in which the main hero Odysseus is going back home after the Fall of Troy and experiencing different kinds of hospitality – Cyclopes, Nausicaa, Dionysian Music performed by Sirens, etc.) but in the reverse order. That is to say, the wanderings of Aeneas and his people come first (“Odyssey”) and then the war starts (“Iliad”). J.L. Borges in one of his lectures at Harvard said that “The Geeks had no use for books or no great use for them, it is a fact indeed that most of the great teachers of mankind have been not writers but speakers”. “However, we need not worry too much about the fate of the Classics because Beauty is always with us”. Suffice it to mention the Mysterious smile of Ancient Kore.

Temples of Culture I

The most extraordinary thing about Ancient Greek architecture is their idea about the Sight, that is to say, the organization of space is based on special viewpoints. Here were are in the Theatre of Delphi looking down and all the buildings arrange themselves in such a way as to be viewed obliquely as fully plastic objects.

Basically, the Greek Theater (the Theater at Epidaurus, the Ancient Theater in Tauric Chersonesus, etc.) is an open-air structure composed of a partial circle (Theatron) organized around the Orchestra where action takes place and a backstage (Skene) behind it. And one of the most powerful things is that like in the case of temples – for example, the Temple of Segesta in Sicily – they find a special place that needs to be clarified and make visible its uniqueness that otherwise would be lost.

The Romans, on the contrary, prefer free standing structures frontally oriented and densely packed into a city. Let us have a look, for instance, at the Theater of Marcellus in Rome. Typologically, it conserves quite a lot from the Greeks, but the architectural edge closes the space off. Moreover, the Flavian Amphitheater – a giant object in the city of Rome – consists of two semicircles merged together and is by no means open-ended. Another allusion to the Greek architecture is that the d'ecor of the Colosseum combines different orders – Doric, Ionic, Corinthian – and yet, the columns are not free standing (the Parthenon in Athens) but they are engaged in the walls (like in the Maison Carr'ee in Nimes).

The Romans were abscessed with technology and that allowed them to build in a very different way. The arch became the fundamental element of Roman architecture enabling them to erect bridges (The Alc'antara Bridge), aqueducts (Devil’s bridge in Tarragona) and even the Pantheon – a temple to all the gods with a lot of altars.

The Romans were more interested in entertainment than in dramatic performances. And yet, the situation has been changing and not long ago they have started to organize concerts at the Colosseum, such as “The Three Tenors” in 1994.

How to Understand a Work of Art? Step I

There are places and works of Art that could change your life right away.

“The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” by Gian Lorenzo Bernini located at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. It was a rainy day and when I entered the church there it was – glowing in the dark, Mysterious and unreal.

“The Moses” by Michelangelo Buonarroti at San Pietro in Vincoli which differs greatly from the other sculptures decorating the Tomb of Pope Julius II. I came to the church early in the morning and there was nobody inside it but me.

Michelangelo’s “Pieta” which I noticed during my second visit to Saint Peter’s Basilica. By the way, despite the fact that it is located rather far from the isle and you need a very good camera to take a photo, the sculpture is absolutely amazing.

Argentine Tango full of passion and sensuality also will not leave you unchanged.

Nevertheless, from time to time it could be helpful to make an effort and use our imagination in order to find out how monuments of the past might have looked like in those days when Roman Culture reached its height.

On the one hand, during my first visit to Santa Maria Maggiore, the interiors of which are richly adorned with mosaics in Byzantine style, I tried to “deconstruct” it, metaphorically speaking, so as to appreciate the Beauty of the original church.

On the other hand, while wandering around the Roman Forum, the place where people used to gather and discuss important issues, I had to “reconstruct” half-destroyed or even missing buildings.

To sum it up, on the whole, there is a variety of possibilities for those who are determined to succeed in studying Art. And if one of the methods mentioned above do not appeals to you, you should try another one.

To be continued…

Chapter II

Once Upon a Time

I decided to go from Minsk to Vilnius. Surprisingly, it turned out that it was not a tourist trip as I had expected, but a pilgrimage tour.

Firstly, when I passed through the Sharp Gate or Ostra Brama and entered the old part of the city, it dawned on me that there are a lot of churches in Vilnius. Suffice it to say that while walking from the Gate to the Vilnia River I visited Roman Catholic Church of St. Teresa in Baroque style, Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Neo-Byzantine style, Roman Catholic Church of St. Anna in Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles and even Choral Synagogue in Moorish style, etc.

Moreover, there is a marvelous Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on the other bank of the Vilnia River. Built in Baroque style, the church is richly decorated with sculptures and stucco reliefs inside and outside and thus it looks like a gorgeous porcelain casket. Needless to say, it completely took my breath away.

Secondly, despite the fact that the Memorial Museum of Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis is a little off the beaten track, it is definitely worth visiting. To cut a long story short, Ciurlionis’ Mysterious Paintings complemented by his Music which was being performed at the Museum made a strong impression on me.