Author Topic: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant  (Read 349253 times)

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Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« on: January 01, 2009, 07:07:31 PM »

"I want to know what were the steps by which
man passed from barbarism to civilization (Voltaire)"

   



What are our origins?
Where are we now?
Where are we headed?
Share your thoughts with us!
   Volume Five (The Renaissance)
       
"Four elements constitute Civilization -- economic provision, political organization, moral traditions, and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. "
 
"I shall proceed as rapidly as time and circumstances will permit, hoping that a few of my contemporaries will care to grow old with me while learning. "
       
"These volumes may help some of our children to understand and enjoy the infinite riches of their inheritance."
       
"Civilization begins where chaos and insecurity ends."



SAVONAROLA AND THE REPUBLIC

The Prophet
The Statesman
Literature: The Martyr
Architecture and Sculpture: The Republic and the Medici
Art Under the Revolution

In this volume the  term "Renaissance" refers only to Italy. Will Durant studies the growth of industry, the rise of banking families like the Medici, the conflicts of labor and capital and considers the reasons why Italy was the first nation, and Florence the first city in Italy, to feel the awakening of the modern mind. He follows the cultural flowering from Florence to Milan, Mantua, Ferrata, Verona and Venice, Padua and Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Urbino, Perugia, Siena, and Naples. 

In each city of Italy we witness a colorful pageant of princes, queeens, dukes, or doges -- of poets, historians, scientists, and philosophers -- of painters, sculptors, engravers, illuminators, potters, and architects -- of industry, education, manners, morals, crime, and dress -- of women and love and marriage -- of epidemics, famines, earthquakes, and death.

Dr. Durant draws vivid vignettes -- of Petrarch, Boccaccio, Cosimo de' Medici, Fra Angelico, Donatello, Beatrice and Isabella d'Este, Leonardo da Vinci, Piero della Francesca, Signorelli, Perugino, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Aldus Manutius, Correggio, Alexander VI, Caesar and Lucrezia Borgia, Julius II, Leo X, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

The Renaissance, by recalling classic culture, ended the thousand year rule of the Oriental mind in Europe.


This volume, then, is about YOU. Join our group daily and listen to what Durant and the rest of us are saying. Better yet, share with us your opinions.

Discussion Leader: robby

Robby

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2009, 09:51:17 PM »
Welcome to everyone here!  Welcome to those of us who are "old timers" and have spent years participating in The Story of Civilization.  And a special welcome to those newcomers who are wondering if they would like to be part of our family here.  We feel sure that you will be comfortable in a short period of time.

Remember how the old radio serials went?  The announcer says: "When we left the Jones family, Martha was talking to the children about their school work and her husband, John, was ready to leave for work.  As we listen in today, we hear Martha saying . . . . . "  You get the idea.

Well, the Senior Net fell down about our ears just as we were ready to start reading Chapter XII (Emilia and the Marches) on Page 327 in Volume Five, The Renaissance.  Rest easy, newcomers.  We are not about to throw you into the center of a story which you had not been following.  Ever so gradually we will help you get your feet wet.  In the meantime, we ask your help.  Very simply, "sign in" so to speak, so we know you are here.  Tell us something briefly about yourself, why you are here, and how we can make your life easier.  Bit by bit, as you do that, I, as the Discussion Leader, will give you a picture of what we have been discussing since the start of the volume.

We are a very informal group here.  None of us pretend to be experts.  If you read carefully the Heading above, you will see the goal of this discussion group. We just want to know the flow of civilization and see how we are a part of it.  You will get the hang of it as we go along.  For the moment ignore the comments in the color green above.

I am waiting for your posts.  Tell us who you are.

Robby

Gumtree

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2009, 02:53:52 AM »
Hi Robby - It looks as though I'm first in and in that context I can't resist the old cliche 'first time for everything' -

I don't think you know me but I 'know' you as I was an occasional 'lurker' at the old site and enjoyed the discussion whenever   I found time to linger and savour the posts. I'm not sure that I will be able to participate fully even now but at least you will know that I may be here sometimes.

 I can't think what to say about myself that's pertinent except that I'm a bookaholic - I love classic literature of many kinds:  the Greeks, Medieval texts, Renaissance (I know more of the English than Italian - though Petrarch and Boccaccio are on my shelves). 19th century novel is a particular interest of mine - English and European though I only really read in English. I like a little history and you could say I was a little 'into art' but I'm not much into politics. I read. and among other things, I paint as a 'serious amateur'  read, garden and read....I'm an Aussie and live in beautiful Perth on the west coast. I came to SNet about three years ago and have enjoyed the books folders enormously and am grateful to Ginny et al for their work in providing us with this new site. So now you know!
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Robby

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2009, 07:38:39 AM »
Well, Australia beat everyone to the punch.  Welcome, Gumtree!  Just make a comment every so often so we know that you are with us.  I have a hunch you will be more active than you think.  And BTW, what is a Gumtree outside of being your screen name?

Robby

Brian

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    • Brian's Den
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2009, 11:58:25 AM »
HOORAY again, Brian's here and as soon as I read the latest episode I will be in with both feet.

Welcome Gumtree.  One for Australia - - - one for Canada.

I feel sure that safely launched in our new home, thanks again to all who made it possible, we will sail with the wind behind us all the way to the end.

Brian.

EvelynMC

  • Posts: 216
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2009, 12:08:58 PM »
Hi Robby and Everyone else,

Like Gumtree, I was a lurker off and on in the the previous SOC discussion.  I started out in Latin a few years ago and just dropped out recently.  But while in Latin I learned a lot about Ancient Rome and that time in History. I have always had an interest in History.   

I have the first nine volumes of the Story of Civilization and hope to take a more active part now.

My husband and I  retired to Hot Springs, Arkansas fifteen years ago from Chicago, Illinois.  He is the Coordinator of the Hot Springs SeniorNet Learning Center here in Hot Springs. And we met you on the elevator in Washington, D.C. at the SN 20th Anniversary bash in Oct. 2006.

Thank you for leading this discussion, and as I have indicated before, I'll be happy to type any portion of the discussion that's needed.

Evelyn

mabel1015j

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2009, 01:02:33 PM »
Hi Robby - glad to see you here and hope you are feeling better than the last time i checked in in the Fall.

I'm a Northeastener - Pennsylvania and New Jersey - and first found SofC a few years ago when searching for some resources for a Western Civ course i was teaching. In my google search up popped SN and SofC. That was the beginning of my having days and days (actually YEARS now) of enjoyment "chatting" w/ all the folks in the book discussions of SN, and lurking often, enjoying the posts and the amazing knowledge of the posters here and in other discussions.

How wonderful to see some of the book discussions, including Sof C back on board. And i have to thank Robby again for spending so much of his time leading us for sev'l years in this wonderful discussion of WEstern Civilization.

WHOPPEE! ............jean

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2009, 01:33:31 PM »
Brian: I know you've been waiting for so long for us to get back into action - but here we are and glad you waited.
Mabel: I remember your active participation as we moved thru SofC in SN.  Thank you for re-joining us.
Evelyn: I'm trying to remember that elevator event.  Was it two years ago that the SN had its anniversary?  Tempis fugit!  And thank you for your typing offer.  There will be times when my arthritic right arm complains and then I will turn to you.

Robby

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #8 on: January 03, 2009, 01:48:47 PM »
To give newcomers a taste of what we have been discussing and to refresh the memories of long-timers here, we started this volume  by discusssing the Age of Petrarch and Boccaccio.  We read about Francesco Petrarca being the "Father of the Renaissance" and talked some about the city of Naples.  We also discussed Siena, Milan, Venice and Genoa.

If those names spark a thought in any of you, please comment on them, even if it is not related in any way to what Durant told us.  Have you read about those cities?  Have you visited any of them?  Please share your memories.

Robby

JoanK

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #9 on: January 03, 2009, 03:18:54 PM »
HOORAH! We're back, with our fearless leader, Robby. I discovered SOC some years ago (just at the beginning of the Romans -- 4 years) and have been an avid Seniornetter ever since. (I guess I should say Seniorlearner. That has a nice ring). I lurk more than I post, but I'm always here.

I was born and lived most of my life in Washington D.C. I met you two years ago at our twenty year celebration. Two years ago I moved to sunny Southern California. I read just about everything that's printed from mysteries to "great books" to history to poetry to ... And here, I always find people who are reading the same things.

Robby

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #10 on: January 03, 2009, 04:16:24 PM »
So glad you're back with us, Joan, as one of our "old" timers.  I guess I can afford to make comments like that because I believe I am the oldest one here -- maybe the oldest in SeniorLearn for all I know.

Robby

JoanK

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #11 on: January 03, 2009, 07:02:36 PM »
Hey, I like being an "oldtimer".

Persian

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #12 on: January 03, 2009, 09:55:11 PM »
I'm delighted to see that SOC will continue at this new site.  A blessing for the participants familiar with the intriguing posts of the past and a new way of developing future friendships among more recent posters.  Washington DC was a wonderful place to meet some of the SN folks.  As a former long-time resident of the metropolitan Washington DC area, I can certainly attest to that from personal experience.

ROBBY - Welcome!  it's delightful that you will continue to guide posters, help to entice questions and interests in the SOC and add your own brand of humor and genuine interest in learning to the discussion.  You may be interested to know that both my son (now stationed in Germany with his family) and my husband (teaching in Egypt until February) printed occasional comments from former SOC discussions and shared them with friends, colleagues and students.

Mahlia

winsummm

  • Posts: 461
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2009, 10:46:42 PM »
hi Robby et al.

'glad to see this is a continuation and noticed in the heading that there are many thinkers, writers, artists, etc. that  I don't know   and will be glad to meet. 

I drop in and out of here in a disorganized way, but do enjoy the virtues of this place and all of you...
Claire/winsum
thimk

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2009, 07:47:49 AM »
Mahlia:  You have told us so often about your husband who teaches in Egypt and who is interested in our discussions here.  He is living in an area which is regularly on the news these days.  We all hope he is OK.

Claire:  I had been wondering if you knew about our new SL.  I keep wanting to say SN.  Welcome back.

To newcomers here, Claire is an "oldtimer" who has for years shared her wisdom with us and I just know will continue to be active in this discussion.

Robby

Robby

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2009, 07:53:40 AM »
A few postings back, I mentioned some cities which were part of the Renaissance.  I did this to show newcomers how Volume 5 (The Renaissance) began and to tickle the memory of those who had been here before.

I mentioned Naples, Siena, Milan, Venice and Genoa.  If anyone here has been to any of these cities, have read a bit about any of them, or just dream about them, share your memories and thoughts with us.  In a fairly rapid fashion I will move us through the chapter sections we have already covered and will bring us up to where we were when SN crashed.

The remarks of a Discussion Leader do not make a discussion successful.  The lively comments of participants do.  Come - let us rejuvenate Story of Civilization.

Robby

Gumtree

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2009, 09:17:33 AM »
To give newcomers a taste of what we have been discussing and to refresh the memories of long-timers here, we started this volume  by discusssing the Age of Petrarch and Boccaccio.  We read about Francesco Petrarca being the "Father of the Renaissance" and talked some about the city of Naples.  We also discussed Siena, Milan, Venice and Genoa.

If those names spark a thought in any of you, please comment on them, even if it is not related in any way to what Durant told us.  Have you read about those cities?  Have you visited any of them?  Please share your memories.

Robby

 For many years  I have been interested in literary history so I've been trying to recall whatever it is that I once knew about Petrarch and Boccaccio. I gather they have already been discussed on the old site but if you can bear with me here are a few snippets which come to mind...

So far as Petrarch goes I remember that he had a passion for the ancient Greek & Latin literature and was one of the first to realise the significance of Greek literature and to read the classical texts with any real insight. He learned Greek specifically to read Homer in the original and searched all over Europe for Greek and Latin manuscripts to build up his personal library.

It is in his poetry that we see his greatest literary achievement and the greatest of these is the series written in Italian and dedicated to 'Laura' whom he loved from a distance in the manner of the courtly love tradition. Laura  is pure and chaste and there are many references in commentaries as to what might have happened if one day she had decided to yield - I daresay Petrarch would have run for dear life!  It would have ruined the poetry had she given in to his blandishments so it's just as well that she behaved herself.

Here's one of his pieces:

A Complaint by Night of the Lover not Beloved (Francesco Petrarca)

Alas, so all things now do hold their peace!
Heaven and earth disturbed in no thing;
The beasts, the air, the birds their song do cease,
The nightes car the stars about doth bring;
Calm is the sea; the waves work less and less:
So am not I, whom love, alas! doth wring,
Bringing before my face the great increase
Of my desires, whereat I weep and sing,
In joy and woe, as in a doubtful case.
For my sweet thoughts sometime do pleasure bring;
But by and by, the cause of my disease
Gives me a pang that inwardly doth sting,
When that I think what grief it is again
To live and lack the thing should rid my pain.
[/b]
Trans. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Petrarch's sonnets have had a strong influence on the  lyric poetry of Europe including that of English verse. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was common among young Englishmen who were travelling in Italy as part of their education to become so enthralled by Petrarch's sonnets that they tried their hand at the same thing only in English. As a result we have the poems of men like Sir Thomas Wyatt (who, in fact brought the sonnet form into English literature), Sir Phillip Sidney and Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey who was responsible for translating Petrarch into English (I've used his translation above). And there's no doubt too, that especially in the sonnets Shakespeare shows the Petrarchian influence.

Robby, Tell me if this isn't the sort of thing you want.

You asked me what a Gumtree is other than my screen name- Gum tree is the common name for the numerous varieties of Eucaltypt trees which dominate the Australian landscape. There are 1500 (and still counting) different ones from small scrubby bushes to giant, elegant trees soaring into the sky. My favourites are the Eucalyptus Marginata - the Jarrah which produces a glorious reddish hardwood which is much prized and becoming rarer to acquire in quantity, and the Eucalyptus Diversifolia - the Karri also a good wood but which in season  puts on a superb colouration in its bark that ranges from pale pink through apricots to salmon, into pale pale blues, soft greys and silver. - all at once - it's simply stunning to see. The Gum trees are intrinsically Australian - as am I.


Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #17 on: January 04, 2009, 10:07:42 AM »
Yes, Gumtree, that is exactly the type of sharing to which I was referring.  Sometimes we speak directly to comments by Durant but at other times Durant brings to mind items which relate to our overall topic.  I had no idea that Petrarch's sonnets had an influence on English verse.  Thank you for this.

Robby

JoanK

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #18 on: January 04, 2009, 09:13:31 PM »
Thank you, Gumtree. That's lovely. I've heard the first line quoted, but didn't know where it came from.

Random thought: I guess Pasternak got the idea of Dr. Zhivago writing poems to Lara whom he had lost from Plutarch.

JoanK

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #19 on: January 04, 2009, 09:14:42 PM »
Hi, Winsom. Good to see you back!

Gumtree

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #20 on: January 05, 2009, 02:33:31 AM »
Thank you, Gumtree. That's lovely. I've heard the first line quoted, but didn't know where it came from.

Random thought: I guess Pasternak got the idea of Dr. Zhivago writing poems to Lara whom he had lost from Plutarch.

JoanKGood to be with you again.

Your random thought is in fact, absolutely pertinent and is a multi-faceted example of how Petrarch's influence has become part and parcel of western literature and culture.

Firstly,  Pasternak, a great 20th Century writer,  (Nobel Prize and all that) in his own country is more renown for his poetry rather than his novels. In the 'Lara poems' we have examples of his skill and whilst they don't take the same form as Petrarch's  they are poems to the unattainable lady.

The second thing is that Pasternak makes his character, the young Zhivago, write the poems to Lara just as the young Englishmen, I mentioned wrote to their fair damsels in 15th and 16th centuries - remember all those pieces with titles like "To my Fair Mistress' or 'Lines written to a Lady-in-waiting' 'To the Fair Maiden' etc etc

And thirdly all this takes place in a Russian context and in a 19th Century time frame. A far cry from Petrarch's 14th century Italy.

What I guess I'm saying is that over the centuries the Petrachian influence has become so entwined in western culture that we don't even know that it's there.

It's a very long time since we all read Zhivago but I have sometimes wondered whether Pasternak deliberately chose the name Lara as a nod to the Italian master - it is very close to Laura.

For me, Shakespeare was the one who really perfected the sonnet form and again there is the nod to Petrarch in his series dedicated to his 'Dark Lady' - but that's too far ahead...

Poor Laura was a real person. Sadly she died during the plague. Thereafter Petrarch himself divided his literary output into two sections - that written before she died and that composed after her death.

After Petrarch died the Italian literary mantle was handed on to Boccaccio - but that's another story... for another day perhaps.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #21 on: January 05, 2009, 07:49:18 AM »
It's so easy for most of us (not necessarily in our discussion here) to forget - or even be unaware of -- earlier influences on our lives - previous years, previous centuries, previous millennia.  Thank you, Gumtree, for giving examples where the flow of Civilization is a Story.

Robby

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #22 on: January 05, 2009, 07:51:01 PM »
It is nice to be back in the Renaissance discussion and to see so many old friends reporting in. My thanks to those who made it possible for us to continue at this new site. The "crash" gave us a little longer holiday than we would normally take at this time of year but it was not unwelcome. We needed a break after many years of steady conversation. Now we are refreshed and ready to begin again.

It is pleasing to see so many lurkers and new hands coming in to add to the conversation. I am sure we will be our old lively selves again quite soon.

I live in central California very close to a Pacific beach. Inland mountains of the Pacific coast range come down very close to the ocean at this point and while Redwoods and Sierra Semper Virens predominate in these wooded areas Eucalytus trees (gumtrees) appear in groves. They were planted about 100 years ago and their odor at certain times of the year is quite strong. We are prone to fires in this neighborhood and when the Eucalytus trunk gets hot fire shoots from the top of the tree like a roman candle aiding in the spread of fire. Redwoods on the other hand use fire to open its cones for new growth. The trunks turn black but the tree continues.

mabel1015j

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #23 on: January 05, 2009, 08:47:16 PM »
Justin - isn't nature amazing? Thanks for that info............jean

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #24 on: January 06, 2009, 07:43:38 AM »
Welcome back to our old friend, Justin, who has been a steady participant in SofC for years.  We look forward to your usual pertinent comments.

As you may have noticed in prior postings, Justin, I am giving some brief memory ticklers of places and people we visited before the "crash."  Any comments from you about Petrarch and Boccaccio or the cities of Naples, Siena, Milan, Venice, or Genoa?

Robby

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #25 on: January 07, 2009, 12:00:53 AM »
I have in the past spent many happy hours in Italy. It is a country with a rich history well expressed in painting, sculpture,mosaics, music and literature. Boccacio wrote to divert the mind from the plague as did Chaucer. The tales are with us today and can be read today with pertinence in our current lives. 

Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #26 on: January 07, 2009, 04:16:27 AM »
After discussing the cities mentioned above, we moved onto the Florentine Renaissance and the rise of the Medici.  We read Durant's remarks about the Humanists; Architecture and the Age of Bruncellesco; Sculpture of Ghiberri, Donatello and Luca della Robbia, and Painting of Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and Fra Filippo Lippi.

Do these names strike a chord in anyone here?

Robby

Brian

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    • Brian's Den
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #27 on: January 07, 2009, 01:43:21 PM »
Luca della Robbia

Initially worked with marble and bronze, but found that coating terra cotta with a special glaze of his own invention, to make it weatherproof, was much less effort.

"But then Luca, after finishing these works, made a reckoning of how much he had earned, and how much time he had spent on them, and then realised that he had gained hardly anything despite his great efforts. So he resolved to abandon marble and bronze, [and], having considered that clay could be worked easily and that all that was wanting was a way by which the works made in clay could be preserved, he let his imagination loose so successfully that he found a way to protect it against the ravages of time.
And for this method of working...all ages to come will be under an obligation to him."


Brian.

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #28 on: January 07, 2009, 08:39:36 PM »
The glazed terra cottas of  Lucca Della Robbia and especially, those of his nephew Andrea are exquisite achievements in the sculptor's art. The works of Donatello and Ghiberti were available at the time to have an  influence in the work of Lucca.  Lucca's glazes using an ancient tin based technique resulting in a smooth white surface over the brown or red terra cotta, is still used today. He was able to achieve long lasting surface's. His work today, having weathered centuries of climate variation, looks as fresh and pure as I'm sure it was in the Renaissance. His Madonna's exhibit a softness rarely found in other media. 

Brian

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    • Brian's Den

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #30 on: January 08, 2009, 01:46:31 AM »
Brian: The masaccio Madonna failed to appear.





































































































































































































































































Brian: I am not aware of a Madonna done by Masaccio but it's possible he did one. Goodness knows, almost  everyone did a Madonna. He introduced major changes in the art of fresco painting, particularly through an application of mathematics to perspective. His light as I recall came from a source that allowed him to define characters. He died at age 27, hardly an age, that allowed for a large body of work. He did one called " the expulsion", another for the Brancacci Chapel call la Trinitas, and a third called the "Tribute money."  There is in his work a great awareness of Giotto.










JoanK

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Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #31 on: January 08, 2009, 02:06:57 PM »
JUSTIN: how great to see you again! I'm a Californian too, but Southern California. I wish we were closer. Winsom and I are alone down here among bookies, and not that close to each other.

Now Florence is a city I will always love, even though I only spent a week there, 45 years ago. What I remember most vividly is not the great art but the light on the stones of which the city is made.

Do the terra cotta sculptures reflect at all that wonderful color?

Brian

  • Posts: 221
    • Brian's Den
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #32 on: January 08, 2009, 02:44:02 PM »
Justin - - - try the refresh button.  Anyway, the link will take you to the relevant page, and there is the picture in the rest of the information.

Brian.

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #33 on: January 08, 2009, 02:55:12 PM »
Thank you JUstin and Brian............I know very few specifics about Renaissance art except for the bios i've read of Michaelangelo, so i'm enjoying your additional information about the art and the artists............jean

Brian

  • Posts: 221
    • Brian's Den
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #34 on: January 08, 2009, 03:05:46 PM »
While we are waiting for the resumption of the text, I thought I might inject a little levity into the discussion by posting a copy of the email I have just received.

History 101
For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They
lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on
fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the
invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the
foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of
humanity into two distinct subgroups:     1. Liberals,  and  2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture.
Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans
were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.
That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were
drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the
conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and
hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as
girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the
invention of group therapy, group hugs, and  the concept of Democratic voting to decide
how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land
animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or
imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and
French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of
their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers,
personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are
liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the
pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women.
Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers,
firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, airline
pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies
hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to
do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened. That is why
most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were emigrating to other
parts of the world. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of
trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history:

Being a Canadian, I don't have to support either  party!

Brian.

mabel1015j

  • Posts: 3656
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #35 on: January 08, 2009, 03:13:28 PM »
Funny Brian - appalling, but funny - the danger is some folks taking it seriously  :o. I'll forward it to my Republican friend who's freezing in Montana at the moment.......... :P ........jean

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #36 on: January 08, 2009, 08:13:50 PM »
Well, I'll be darned. There is a Masaccio Madonna and an unusual one at that. The Madonna is a plain Jane with double chin who appears to be feeding grapes to the child. The juice has dripped and stained her garment as well as the chilld's leg. The haloes appear to be hammered in gold in the Byzantine style. A large archtectural throne is provided to indicate majesty but in my judgement the heavy monumental throne is incongruous with the very human activity of the mother and child. A third dimension with projection is achieved by positioning angel putti just behind the arms of the throne. The pyramidal form of the composition is typical of the period.

The symbolism of the grapes is interesting. It derives from the wine produced at the Marriage of Cana as well as the use of wine at the Last Supper in the transubstantiation process. The young Masaccio must have thought it was all a good joke as the child pushes the grapes into his mouth.

 Masaccio's other works while much more serious also have a whimsical side. He may have had fun with Adam and Eve's nakedness and the interplay of hands in the Expulsion. Also in pulling the coin from the fish's mouth for the tax collector in the "Tribute," there is humor. The scene with the tax collector is the one supporting the "render unto Caesar etc." phrase. I have never really seen the whimsy in Masaccio's work before this. I will look more carefully at his other pieces.


Robby

  • Posts: 245
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #37 on: January 08, 2009, 08:51:56 PM »
Brian indicated where we came from and where we are now but not where we are headed.

Robby

Justin

  • Posts: 253
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #38 on: January 09, 2009, 12:44:03 AM »
Is there no conservative faction in Canada? How about the French only crowd in Quebec? Conservatives usually defend the status quo. Liberals often want to change things.

In the US we achieve deadlock by electing a President of one persuasion and a Congress of the opposite persuasion. When all branches of government are of one persuasion as was the case with the Bush administration, the bulk of the electorate usually loses if the power is conservative and wins if liberal.

Brian

  • Posts: 221
    • Brian's Den
Re: Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant
« Reply #39 on: January 09, 2009, 03:03:59 PM »
Justin - - - of course Canada has a "conservative faction" - - - in fact, at present it has a Conservative Government, albeit a minority government.

We have Conservatives and Liberals having some similarities to your Republicans and Democrats.  We also have the NDP (National Democratic Party) supposedly representing labour (read - labor), and we have the PQ (Partie Quebecois) whose sole aim is eventually to enable Quebec to separate from Canada, and become an entirely self-governing country.  We also have a smattering of other parties, including the Green Party.

The email I quoted, obviously originated in the U.S., and was meant to generate a smile from half of our members and maybe a growl from the other half.  It seems to have acheived its target.

Brian