Essay 3 - Research paper
This was definitely the most comfortable I’ve felt writing for this class out of the three essays. I am planning to be a History major, so I consider myself to be quite good at historical research, and it also really excites me. I loved going through the books in the library and digging up evidence about my topic. I also liked that we were given the broad subject of an artist, and we were able to create our own focus. I spent a day reading about about Klimt, from his personal life, to his depictions of women, details of his technique (especially with the gold leaves), and finally the Secession. I stumbled across the development of the Secession while I was reading Pippal’s book, A Short History of Art in Vienna. She had literally only written one paragraph about the group of artists leaving the Künstlerhaus, and I knew instantly that I wanted to learn more. Luckily, we have several books in the Flow House library that talk about the Secession, however each emphasises a different aspect. I enjoyed putting the puzzle pieces together and writing a coherent (I hope) research paper about Klimt’s involvement with the group. If I were allowed more than 1000 words, I would have spent more time talking about the many other extremely talented artists involved in the Secession and Klimt’s relationship with them. I also would have gone into more detail about Klimt’s artwork.
Essay 2 - Comparison
I really enjoyed writing the comparison paper. I compared The Legend of the Mortal Remains of St. John the Baptist by Geertgen tot Sint Jans and The Miracles of St. Francis Xavier by Peter Paul Rubens. I had come across Sint Jans piece in the KHM and I noticed the Black woman in it, and I thought that it would be a great thing to write about. Then, when it was time to write this paper, that thought came back to me and I was really happy that I would have the opportunity to talk about the representation of race in classical, European art. When started talking about Rubens in class, I really liked his art, and I felt really excited that he also had a piece depicting multiple races. My first draft of this paper at 1,600 words. I had so much to say! It was really challenging cutting it down. I thought talking about the representations of race was really interesting, but I also liked comparing the general style of the pieces - especially considering that both artists are Flemish. One thing I continually wished when I was writing this paper was that I had more technical knowledge of oil painting, so I could understand the techniques better and articulate my thoughts with more precise vocabulary.
Essay 1 - St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest church in Prague. It is located next to the Prague Castle, which sits on a one of the highest points in Prague and can be seen from the opposite side of the Vltava River. The high location of St. Vitus also reflects its importance in the city - although Czechs are generally not very religious, the cathedral holds much of their national identity and is also a main tourist attraction. The construction of St. Vitus began in 1344 on the order of Charles IV, but it was not completed until 1929. Because of this large time span over which construction occurred, there are some variations in style - including Rennaissance and Baroque - but the main style of the church is Gothic. The main Gothic elements of the exterior include pointed arches, flying buttresses and gargoyles. On the interior, there is great emphasis placed on both maximising and manipulating lights through the stained-glass windows and the non-stained-glass clerestory. There are also ribbed vaults, compound piers and pointed arches that function to make the nave as high as possible. St. Vitus also includes radiating chapels, a triforium and wall paintings
The architecture essay was challenging for me. This is mostly because I choose a very complex building - there was so much to talk about. Also, St. Vitus was built over such a long period of time, that it was done in many different styles. Sometimes I found that a particular style was easily identifiable, but I also found that other traits of the cathedral represented a mixture of styles. I also found it difficult to resist doing research about the cathedral, as I kept wanting to look for historical explanations for things, rather than describing what I saw. However, I did enjoy getting to know St. Vitus better by writing the paper. The most valuable thing about this paper was seeing the difference between St. Vitus and St. Stephen’s - comparing the two really made the distinction between Gothic and Romanesque for me.
The architecture essay was challenging for me. This is mostly because I choose a very complex building - there was so much to talk about. Also, St. Vitus was built over such a long period of time, that it was done in many different styles. Sometimes I found that a particular style was easily identifiable, but I also found that other traits of the cathedral represented a mixture of styles. I also found it difficult to resist doing research about the cathedral, as I kept wanting to look for historical explanations for things, rather than describing what I saw. However, I did enjoy getting to know St. Vitus better by writing the paper. The most valuable thing about this paper was seeing the difference between St. Vitus and St. Stephen’s - comparing the two really made the distinction between Gothic and Romanesque for me.