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The Vault Decoration of the Sala di Constantino: Tommaso Laureti’s Visual Manifesto of his Artistic Methods, Principles, and Theory
No full textMaster of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2021.In 1582, the construction of the high vault in the Sala di Constantino wascompleted, prompting Pope Gregory XIII to commission Tommaso Laureti to decoratethe newly built ceiling with lavish frescoes. The vault’s pictorial structure includes aseries of spandrels and lunettes that encompass a central, rectangular panel. The centralpanel and the decorations surrounding it differ in style and purpose but contribute to theroom’s overall themes— the exaltation of Constantine the Great and the Catholic Churchin the aftermath of the Council of Trent. These frescoes are prevalent in art historicalscholarship for their political and historical significance; however, their formal andstylistic aspects have been neglected, especially as concerns their position in the debatesabout artistic theory and methods of the Cinquecento. This thesis attempts to interpretLaureti’s artistic decisions as a part of larger discussions about the definition and functionof disegno. Specifically, this thesis will argue that the various visual elements of thevault, along with the inherent purpose of the frescoes, expound Laureti’s particularartistic methods, principles, and art theory as rebuttals to both Vasari and Zuccaro. Ananalysis of Laureti’s artistic training prior to the papal commission confirms hisallegiance to a certain conception of disegno. After the papal commission, his positionand pedagogy at the Accademia di San Luca solidify his endeavor to assert his specificartistic principles and methods as the heirs to correct artistic practice. Combining primaryand secondary sources and object-based research with a critical analysis of the vaultdecoration, this project draws attention to the unique aspects of the frescoes and arguesthat they are the amalgamated components of Laureti’s most fully developed visualmanifesto in the context of heated debates about artistic theory and methods
L’Estaque aux toit rouges: A case Study in articulating Cézanne’s “Petite sensation” and Regionalism circa 1885
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Communications)--John Cabot University, Spring 2021.L'Estaque aux toits rouges is one of Cézanne's 1885 works created in the landsape of L'Estaque, the bay area near Marseille. This moment marked the beginnings of the painter's regional reclamation, while refraining to take part in the urban culture of Paris at the turn of the century. This artwork is indicative of the twenty-year development that Cézanne employed when his process of painting has significantly shifted. By working exclusively from and in nature, the French native was able to begin transcribing through his primordial sensation of the landscape with the essential tool of his works, cognition. Cézanne was able to adopt this manner of continuously seeing the landscape through primordial eyes, as the regional landscape of central France shifted his focus from painting in seeking to express what the Impressionists had painted onto the canvas, ad instead reinvented the manner in which he could transcribe a primordial vision that would manifest as careful allocations of color that would create the distortional and volumetric effect of a Cézanne landscape by 1885. In the case of the painter who ultimately worked exclusively in his native Aix-en-Provence, what is the role of the regionalist landscape in the development of Cézanne's process
Fascism and Populism: Do Salvini and his Lega Nord party share ideologies and communicate like old Italian populist parties?
No full textThesis (B.A. in Political Science, Minor in Legal Studies)--John Cabot University, Spring 2021.Do Salvini and his Lega Nord party share ideologies and communicate like old Italian populistparties? In a world where globalization and equality has become a natural phenomenon that slowlyeveryone is beginning to accept, there are still some people who believe that there should be strongrestrictions to it. For years, especially in Italy, there has been a battle to change and revolutionize themindset of the people, something that has occurred thanks to the new generations. In the previouscentury, with the birth of fascism and the figure of Mussolini, Italy was a very “closed” country, withlittle to no acceptance of foreigners. This has of course began to change thanks to the elimination ofthe fascist regime and the growth of democratic parties in Italy, however populism is still present inthe minds of many people. One of which, is Salvini, the leader of the Lega Nord movement. Salvinihas been seen as the new Mussolini for some of his ideologies and this paper will serve to explainand understand if the two can be compared for their political views, skills and media/public attention.To try and answer this simple, but at the same time very complicated question, I will make use ofnumerous sources. From books, to press releases and University works, I will try to explain andmotivate the reasons (if any), that bring people to view Salvini as a very similar political leader likeMussolini. All the sources I have chosen, do present numerous insights on the major characteristicsof the two leaders, however none provide a direct comparison between the two. My research willserve to analyze these theories presented in the sources and come up with a conclusion on whether ornot the two leaders are indeed similar
Kishangarh: A Case-Study in The Hybridity and Intentionality of Rajput Court Painting
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Creative Writing)--John Cabot University, Spring 2021.Rajput court painting is a relatively new field of art historical research, conceived at thebeginning of the 20th century by nationalist scholars in India in a bid to include indigenouspainting within the Indian canon. To combat disparagement of Rajput painting as crude, earlyscholars instrumentalized the spiritual aspects of Rajput painting to rationalize its lack ofillusionism. Rajput court painting was portrayed as a tradition guided by Hindu instinct, wherethe paintings, often illustrating devotional subject matter, were viewed as spontaneous reflectionsof pagan imagination. Arguably, positioning Rajput painting in this manner is Orientalizing,emptying it of agency and decontextualizing these works from the complex socio-politicallandscape of North India under the Mughal Empire. This thesis takes the case study ofKishangarh, a provincial Rajput court, under the patronage of the crown prince, Savant Singh(1699-1764). Savant Singh was known for his contributions to Braj devotional poetry under thepen name Nagaridas, and for commissioning several miniature paintings that feature LordKrishna and his lover, Radha. By transforming the cowherd-god Krishna into a prince wholounges in palace gardens and rendezvouses with his elegant lover Radha under the intoxicatingcover of the jungle, the poetic intimacy of the Kishangarh paintings have enraptured scholars ofIndian painting since their “discovery” in 1959. However, these Kishangarh miniatures havestruggled to part with their “mystical” reputation as products of Hindu intuition. This thesis, inconversation with recent scholarship, attempts to subvert the notion that Rajput court paintingwas unchanging or incapable of responding intelligently to its environment. It will do so byseeking moments of human intervention and conscious decision-making to prove theintentionality of Kishangarh’s artistic production, in special consideration of Savant Singh’s roleas a patron with mobility and close involvement with his atelier
Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components
Get PDFRecent studies have linked compassion with higher vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a measure of parasympathetic activity, and meta-analytic evidence confirmed significant and positive associations. Compassion, however, is not to be confused with soothing positive emotions: in order to engage in actions aimed to alleviate (self or others) suffering, the pain should resonate, and empathic sensitivity should be experienced first. The present study examined the association between vmHRV and the empathic sensitivity and action components of trait and state compassion. To do so, several dispositional questionnaires were administered and two videos inducing empathic sensitivity (video 1) and compassionate actions (video 2) were shown, while the ECG was continuously recorded, and momentary affect was assessed. Results showed that (i) scores on subscales assessing the empathic component of trait compassion were inversely related to resting vmHRV; (ii) vmHRV decreased after video 1 but significantly increased after video 2. As to momentary affect, video 1 was accompanied with an increase in sadness and a decrease in positive affect, whereas video 2 was characterized by an increase in anger, a parallel decrease in sadness, and an increase (although non-significant) in positive affect. Overall, present findings support the notion that it is simplistic to link compassion with higher vmHRV. Compassion encompasses increased sensitivity to emotional pain, which is naturally associated with lower vmHRV, and action to alleviate others’ suffering, which is ultimately associated with increased vmHRV. The importance of adopting a nuanced perspective on the complex physiological regulation that underlies compassionate responding to suffering is discussed
‘Selfies’ Under Quarantine: Exploring Networked Emotions in the Time of ‘Social Distancing.’
No full textThis essay focuses on auto-ethnography and auto-fiction as USEFUL tools to reflect on the ways in which networked identities are reshaped and reconfigured within the context of a global pandemic where social relationships, family life, work routines, and learning processes are increasingly migrating to the online domain. The piece builds upon the experience of an undergraduate class who collectively contributed to the blog series ‘Selfies Under Quarantine’ during the first severe lockdown in March 2020. It discusses the question of methods and suggests looking at the ‘draft’ as both an aesthetics and an ethics to navigate the current context of crisis
A Tale of Three (Port) Cities: An Assessment on the Sociopolitical Factors that contribute to Air Pollution in Southern Mediterranean Coasts
No full textThesis (B.A. in Political Science, Minor in Philosophy)--John Cabot University, Spring 2021.This thesis will analyze the sociopolitical background of Southern European states surrounding the Mediterranean in order to understand the political and institutional shifts that have caused an impact on the air quality of these particular regions. By examining the consequences of human interaction in the environment, in respects to the greatest contributing economic sectors to the worsening air quality conditions in specific regions of Southern Spain, Italy and Greece, the research will provide an interpretation on the effects of multilateral legislation on the domestic policies of such. The research will be corroborated through the scrutinized view on the chronology of international political events that have led the energy industries and maritime trade become one of the leading unregulated atmospheric pollutant sources. Due to the given states’ geopolitical vicinity, their shared legislations established by the supranational powers of the European Union will provide this research with a comparison on how these policies have been enforced in their respective Southern regions. In addition, environmental law and legislation can also be seen through an even smaller lens; this thesis will include an in-depth examination of the reliability on multilateralism and its effects on regionally enforced regulations relating to the emissions of air pollutants.
This environmental policy report will uphold the central premise of social domestic affairs hindering the conservation of air quality in the vulnerable coastal regions of the Mediterranean for the sake of embracing capitalist agenda. Therefore, all three countries have enabled a social indifference towards environmental policies. Based on the aforementioned comparisons between state and international environmental legislations, this thesis will be able to demonstrate the
hypothesis, which justifies how sovereign countries that have endured comparable economic recessions in the modern era, have left behind any moral concept regarding the preservation of the environment, adhering to treaties and endorsing corporations directly related to non-renewable energy production and trade, large emitters of extremely prejudicial polluting gases
The Mosaic Decoration of S. Marco, Rome: St. Mark the Evangelist as the Embodiment of the Papal Perspective in the Second Iconoclastic Controversy (814–842)
No full textMaster of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Fall 2021.This thesis examines the mosaics of Pope Gregory IV (827–844) in the Basilica of S. Marco in Rome. Before Gregory IV’s reign, during Pope Paschal I’s pontificate (817–824), apse mosaics represented a space for messages about the orthodoxy of the veneration of religious images. Paschal I did not only represent the papal perspective on images in apse mosaics, but he also wrote to the Byzantine Emperor Leo V (813–820) about the validity of religious images soon after the start of the second iconoclasm (814–842). The letter, Paschal’s references to eastern theory, and the arrival of Greek iconophile refugees indicate that the controversy remained relevant in Rome even in 830 when Gregory IV’s mosaics were created. This thesis argues that the ideas of Paschal and those of Byzantine iconophile theologians were considered when the mosaics of San Marco were designed. Moreover, the enigmatic appearance of St. Mark the Evangelist as the titular saint in the apse mosaic of the basilica formerly dedicated to Pope Mark is part of this iconophile message. Mark the Evangelist’s representation is deployed to claim his relics in Venice, however, his figure also emphasizes the relationship and role of words and images in the context of a common iconophile argument about the Incarnation of Christ. This process of associations is aided by the composition. The mosaic emphasizes the connection between the saints of the apse which allows them to indicate messages about the primacy of the bishop of Rome and his orthodoxy in the defense of images
