First off, I want to apologize for the people - I literally cannot draw anything except for boxes (and even then I can't do such a great job).
The art piece that I will analyze was created in the mid 1170's using gilded silver and glass cabochons (a fancy word for a polished piece of glass). It is formally titled "Reliquary Casket with the Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket." A reliquary casket is used by the Catholic Church to hold articles of saints that are holy. Its dimensions are 23/16 x 23/4 x 17/8 inches which seems to me, pretty small. The artist is unknown but we do know that its origin is from Britain or British culture.
The piece was created with the intent of memorializing Thomas Becket's martyrdom against King Henry II, as each side of the casket features some form of tribute for his sacrifice. The writing on the front of the says, "S Tomas Occidit" or "Saint Thomas is killed," while on the back the writing says, "T Sanguis e s Tom" which is an abbreviated way of saying, "Inside is the blood of Thomas." The size of the container makes more sense now because a container wouldn't have to be big to hold a little bit of blood. Each of the sides represents something about Becket's life - the front side is an image of him being assaulted by four knights, the left side features an angel carrying his soul to heaven, and the image over the lock shows an angel blessing Becket. This piece was clearly made with the intent to commemorate his sacrifice for the good of the Catholic people.
The artist uses a variety of materials, including gold and dark metals, to honor Becket. Gold is an expensive material and was used for making a statement about a certain topic - like saluting a martyr. Similarly, the darker metals that are used to help create the images on the side represent the sadness that underlies the artist's intentions; it's clear he didn't want Becket to die for his actions. The red jewel on top is also proof that Becket was a revered figure - not many people had a container that had BOTH gold and a jewel on it.
The work itself is a combination of praise for Becket's sacrifice and a lament for his life. The artist is telling the followers of Catholicism that Becket's sacrifice was unnecessary, but heroic, and that every follower should be willing to risk their life for their beliefs. This was evident through the historical context, as Becket's death was facilitated by King Henry II, a figure that the Catholics absolutely despised. In memorializing Becket's death, the artist also portrays King Henry II as a villain and demands a call to action against him (possible assassination?) In modern times, this piece could be a representation of the the hypocrisy associated with religion. Two similar (peaceful) religions were in conflict and it led to the death of an innocent and brave man. This idea of conflicting religions is something that we deal with in modern times as well - evidenced by the clash between condemned Muslim and Christian groups and their normal followers.
umm why the mans on the right look like a TRex... that's just the Tea..spilt. Ok anyways my piece was also about Thomas Becket and showed his life's journey. I like how the artist has the black and white sketches that then have the gold border, it offers a nice contrast. I think a lot of artists in this time were really angry and upset about the death of a true religious man and art was their outlet of expression. I also like how you tied it back to today's times and how even though it's a thousand some years later, we still haven't learned to be respectful and tolerant of religious differences.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis- everything you found in the text was followed by a "so what?"..more needed when thinking about the significance to really create a strong, critical argument. Think about having a central claim/purpose and try to have everything link back.
ReplyDeleteGreat job using context as the core of your argument.
You're right. You do suck at art. You worthless lump of rat tallow.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you talked about the significance of the usage of gold as a tribute to the memory of Becket. I did think the bit about dark metals symbolising the artist's intentions was a stretch, and poorly thought out. Just like everything else you do you vacuous slattern. The "dark metal" was niello, which was chosen for its ease of engraving. Do more research you ignorant weasel.
First of all I just want to say this is totally something us crazy Catholics would do to preserve our saints haha but anyway I think that the colors of the casket really symbolize the artists feelings at the time and his reactions towards Becket. I also like how you can see how everything is linked and symbolized in this artwork.
ReplyDeleteOkay, ignore Frances, I think your drawing is great. But I think that it is super cool that one piece of artwork is able to reflect so many ideas and thought!! I did not do this blog post because I cannot draw, and I think that you did a far better job than I ever would. How do you think the artist was able to display all these messages through one piece of work?
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