Art infused with purpose and hope."We can look forward...as youths, to being grown up... to reaching our prime, and in our prime, to growing old.... Whether this will happen is uncertain; but there is always something to look forward to." Bernard Berenson once said, "The arts embody em·bod·y tr.v. em·bod·ied, em·bod·y·ing, em·bod·ies 1. To give a bodily form to; incarnate. 2. To represent in bodily or material form: the hopes and dreams of an era." With poignant power, the arts of the Middle Ages remind us of a world of grandeur, pomp POMP n. A drug used in cancer chemotherapy and composed of purinethol (6-mercaptopurine), Oncovin (vincristine sulfate), methotrexate, and prednisone. , pageantry and hope. Amidst extreme cruelty extreme cruelty n. an archaic requirement to show infliction of physical or mental harm by one of the parties to his/her spouse to support a judgment of divorce or an unequal division of the couple's property. , suffering and the plague of the Black Death, the arts of the Middle Ages were infused with a sense of purpose and inspired by hope and faith. Through the arts of the Middle Ages and beyond, we gain not only an understanding of a distant era but also something of what we have inherited inherited received by inheritance. inherited achondroplastic dwarfism see achondroplastic dwarfism. inherited combined immunodeficiency see combined immune deficiency syndrome (disease). from it. More importantly, the arts of distant times and places should increase our knowledge of ourselves and of our own time as we struggle with abusive behavior abusive behavior Public health Any of various behaviors–aggressive, coercive or controlling, destructive, harassing, intimidating, isolating, threatening–which a batterer may use to control a domestic partner/victim. See Domestic violence. , homelessness, poverty, divisiveness and the plague of AIDS. While the articles in this issue do not give us much information about the Middle Ages, they do inform us about art infused with a sense of purpose and hope and the integration of art with many aspects of life and learning. The Middle Ages saw the emergence of language, literature and books, and the growth of cities, business, trade and technology. We hope this issue will inspire creative interdisciplinary in·ter·dis·ci·pli·nar·y adj. Of, relating to, or involving two or more academic disciplines that are usually considered distinct. interdisciplinary Adjective connections among art, language, technology and social issues. The arts and culture of the Middle ages flowed from three feeding tributaries - the classical thoughts and ideas of ancient Greece The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. 750 BC[1] (the archaic period) to 146 BC (the Roman conquest). It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western Civilization. , Rome and North Africa; the exotic mysticisms of the Near East; and the tribal traditions of the barbaric North. Together, the diversity of these cultural influences informed the achievements of the Middle Ages. Resources for art education today enable us also to go far beyond the boundaries of our own culture. The artworks our students encounter can be drawn from a richly diverse society and their beliefs and values can be informed by a broad global perspective filled with purpose and hope. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion