Paintings



that Changed the World




(by Klaus Reichold & Bernhard Graf)



From Lascaux to Warhol






Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truth,
passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius,
but never abandoned.

William Butler Yeats


 

Prehistoric Art that Made the World Think Again
 

The first masterpieces of painting

 

... suddenly we found a hole. We moved a few stones to make the opening wider. And, because I was the strongest, I was the first to climb down into the darkness. I was afraid to start with, because you never know what's lurking in a cave. But my burning curiosity overcame my fear of the unknown.

Still my heart was beating furiously. I slipped, tried to hold on to some stones but slid downwards several metres. And then, when I finally came to the bottom, I was amazed to see the strangest pictures on the walls.

Eyewitness report by one of the four boys who discovered the Lascaux Caves in 1940

 

A journey into the past; The entrance to the Lascaux Caves, 1940.
Marcel Ravidat and Jacques Marsal, two of the boys who discovered the caves, are pictured m the middle

 

The Lascaux Caves were discovered purely by chance. On 12 September 1940 four boys were roaming through the woods above Montignac in the Vezere Valley, when suddenly their little dog disappeared in front of them. Terrified, they ran to the spot where he had been and discovered a small crevice in the ground — thus began the adventure related above.

Caves were the first type of permanent housing for human beings, when they were still active as hunters and gatherers at the dawn of history. Around 15,000 ВС, several groups seem to have settled near each other in the south-western region of Dordogne in France. In nearly zoo caves, prehistoric remains have been discovered. Due to the unusual atmospheric conditions present in these caves, an astonishing number of palaeolithic paintings have been preserved in excellent condition.

The discovery made by the four boys affected the history of art as nothing had ever done before. In the Lascaux Caves, which are about 100 metres long, more than 1,500 palaeolithic incised drawings and roughly 600 realistic paintings — of bison, stag, ox and other animals — were discovered. Nowhere else have so many prehistoric pictures been found preserved in one place. Researchers assume that for about 5,000 years people have inhabited these caves, painting the walls over and over again — ultimately leaving; behind a "prehistoric art museum".

Some of these pictures are extremely large: the walls of the biggest cavern (The Great Hall) is decorated with some bulls measuring five metres in length. Unique in their vitality and remarkable in the skill with which they were executed, these pictures dramatically changed our view of art history. Until well into the nineteenth century, it was thought that art had developed gradually and in stages over time, similar to the way a child's art develops — from awkward beginnings to more polished forms. In fact, when the first cave paintings were discovered in 1879 at Altamira in northern Spain, they were regarded as fakes. Further discoveries, above all the paintings at Lascaux, removed all doubts: as early as 15,000 BC painting was already a "fine art".
 

The Great Hall
c.15,330-15,050 BC
Lascaux Caves, France


 

The Pharaoh's Curse
 

Tutankhamen's tomb

 

Have finally made a marvellous discovery in the Valley -
stop - Magnificent grave with unbroken seals -
stop - Covered up again until you arrive -
stop - Congratulations!

Telegram sent by Howard Carter to Lord Carnarvon, 6 November 1922

 

Detail from the back of Tutankhamen's throne
Carved wood and gold, inlaid with Egyptian
faience, enamel, semiprecious, stones and silver
104 x 53 X 64.5 cm
From the tomb in the Valley of the Kings Egyptian Museum, Cairo


 

Fertile Beginnings
 

Europa and the Minotaur

 

Out in the dark blue sea there lies a land called Crete, a rich and lovely land, washed by the waves on every side, densely peopled and boasting ninety cities.... One of the ninety towns is a great city called Knossos, and there, for nine years. King Minos ruled and enjoyed the friendship of almighty Zeus.

Homer, The Odyssey 19,172-174,178-180

 

Theseus killing the Minotaur

 

To speak of Crete is often to speak of bulls. An ancient tale concerns a young woman named Europa, who was so generous as to give her name to a continent. Europa was the daughter of a king who ruled over what is now the Mediterranean coast of Syria. When Zeus caught sight of beautiful Europa on the beach he fell in love, assumed the form of a white bull and approached her. The maiden caressed him, and climbed onto his back — at which moment he carried her off to the island of Crete, where he revealed his true identity. As the ancient Greek writers said: "There they mingled in love", and Europa bore Zeus three sons. One of them was the legendary Minos. There is another tale about Minos, who later became king of Crete. When Minos refused to sacrifice a white bull sent to him by Poseidon, the sea-god revenged himself by seducing Minos's wife Pasiphae. Driven mad by strange desires, she is said to have hidden herself in a wooden cow. Poseidon assumed the form of a bull, prevailed over the. cow and months later Minos's wife gave birth to the Minotaur: a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Minos built a subterranean labyrinth, in which he concealed the Minotaur. Yet, it was necessary to placate the monster as he grew older; he demanded a tribute from the city of Athens: they had no choice but to regularly send the Minotaur seven youths and seven virgins — which the monster devoured.

Why did the bull play such an important role in mythology? Many cultures venerated the bull as a divine animal; he was, according to their myths, the first creature and a symbol of fertility. He was also associated with cattle raising and the first human settlements. The place where a bull stopped on its wanderings was considered a good place to settle — in fact the borders of many ancient settlements were marked by an ox drawing a plough. The bull also provided a standard of value and an object of barter: Homer tells us that a woman skilled at domestic work was worth four bulls, while a beautiful slave was worth twenty.

The sport of bull-leaping was already known to Crete in Minoan times: it was an exercise for youths to measure themselves against the raw forces of nature and may also have had religious significance. One of the earliest depictions of bull-leaping can be seen in Knossos near Heraklion, where, since the beginning of the twentieth century, a vast palace complex has been under excavation. It has been suggested this magnificent structure belonged to King Minos and that its nearly 1,200 rooms were the origin of the myth of the Labyrinth that housed the Minotaur.
 

Anonymous, Greek
Bull-Leaping
с. 1500 ВС
Fresco
From the Palace of Knossos
Archaeological Museum, Heraklion


 

What Would Life Be Without Music?
 

The Etruscans and melodic beginnings

 

As another hindrance to education let us note that playing the flute renders the flautist incapable of speaking. Athena, we remember, invented the flute and then cast it aside because she didn't like the way playing this instrument distorted her face.

Aristotle, Athenaion Politeia, VIII6, fourth century ВС

 

The beautifully decorated Banquet Tomb in the former Etruscan city of Tarquinia

 

Europe's oldest depictions of musical instruments and its oldest written music were found in Greece, the home of antiquity's most famous writers on music: Plato (r. 428—348 ВС), the founder of Western philosophy, and Aristotle (c. 384—322 ВС), his no less distinguished pupil. In The Republic, Plato declared: "Education through music is extraordinarily important because rhythm and harmony penetrate to the depths of the soul, seize and ennoble it." This quality would only be brought out of the soul by "good" music:

which was traditional music. In matters of art, Plato was a conservative: "One should guard against anything novel in music, otherwise everything will be called into question. Nowhere are the laws of music broken without the law itself being broken!" The way his philosophy had it, disordered music produced disordered souls which produced a disordered society. The serious and sober philosopher despised the flute above all. To him it epitomised the orgiastic cult of Dionysus, and was therefore an instrument of evil (there are

"Platonists" today who say the same about Heavy Metal music). Aristotle agreed with his teacher in principle, but allowed the flute into his Ideal State, where it would be played only at such occasions "where listening aims more at cleansing than instructing".

And what did the Etruscans have to do with the flute? It was some time around the tenth century ВС when this people emigrated from Turkey to Italy. There they established the first western European cities in the land to which they gave their name, Tuscany, and to which they brought Greek music and culture. Yet the Etruscan achievement is most convincingly attested to by their tombs, some of which are in superb condition. They are not only Europe's first domed buildings, but also contain its oldest frescoes. Flute Players is a superb example of works that were discovered in 1830 in a beautifully decorated tomb in Tarquinia, one of the largest Etruscan cities, situated about eighty kilometres north of Rome.

 

Anonymous, probably Greek
Flute Players
480—450 ВC
Fresco
From the Tomba del Triclinio
Museo Nazionale, Tarqumia, Italy


 

Everyday Life Freezes into Burning Darkness
 

The destruction of Pompeii

 

Make wine-must rolls as follows: moisten a bushel of wheat flour with wine-must, add aniseed, cumin, two pounds of suet, a pound of cheese and some grated bay twig; after you have shaped them, place them on bay leaves and bake.

Marcus Gavius Apitius, De recoquinaria (On cookery), first century AD

 

Buried for centuries under lava: The Via dell'Abbondanza in the excavated city of Pompeii

 

In the year AD 79, on the morning of August 24, people in Pompeii were going to market. Pompeii was a Roman city of 15,000 inhabitants, small but prosperous. People who did not feel like cooking were going to one of the many public kitchens where soups and stews were bubbling on the fire. In its shops fresh chickens, fish, eggs, olive oil, herbs and dates were being sold. A baker and his wife were selling bread and rolls fresh from their oven. They had done well and had shown it by having the walls of their house decorated with colourful frescoes. One of them was the double portrait A Baker and His Wife. The baker holds a scroll which may have borne the text of the couple's marriage contract, his "master

baker's certificate" or perhaps a recipe. His wife is holding a stylus for writing and a wax tablet. Perhaps it signifies that she does the books for the bakery, perhaps she is proud of her literacy. The picture was probably intended to advertise the couple's success to future generations.

At ten o'clock in the morning of August 24, the fresco, the couple and the entire city were buried under a several-metre thick layer of ash, pumice and lava. Pompeii is situated at the foot of Mt Vesuvius, but the volcano had not stirred since the city was founded; nor was there any warning that it was about to erupt — much less that it was about to erupt in the way that it did. When Vesuvius blew the plug of its gigantic crater into the air, an apocalyptic hail of stones and millions of tons of hot ash made Pompeii as dark as night. People fled in panic into entries and cellars but there was no escape, the falling ash crushed buildings and burned through wooden floors. People passing through the forum were killed by falling columns. Sixty prisoners awaiting gladiatorial combat were suffocated where they were interned. The owner of the "Villa of Diome-des" died with the keys to his house m his hand. The lady of the "House of the Faun" was buried under the roof of her hall with the jewellery she had grabbed to take with her. The hot ash enveloped her neighbour's dog

where he was chained up. Pompeii was lost under a mountain of ash within a few hours; only a handful of people escaped.

Plinv the Younger (с 61—c.113) witnessed the inferno from the Bay of Naples as an eighteen-year-old. He wrote that, of the people in the area, "most prayed to the gods. Others, however, explained that there were no more gods anywhere; the last night on earth had plunged the world in eternal darkness". There was no question of rebuilding Pompeii, the ash hardened into rock and it was not until 1748 that the rediscovered ruins — especially some well-preserved interior frescoes — created a sensation throughout Europe. Along with neighbouring Herculaneum, which suffered the same fate, Pompeii provides us with incomparable evidence of what daily life was like in ancient Rome.

 

Anonymous, Roman
A Baker and His Wife
1st century AD
Fresco
Wail painting from Pompeii
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples


 

"Upon this Rock I Will Build My Church"
 

The birth of Christianity

 

And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Christ to Simon Peter, the Gospel of Matthew (16:18-19)

 

The mosaics in Santa Costanza also depict secular scenes
such as the harvesting of grapes and the making of wine

 

Anonymous, Late Roman
Christ and St Peter
4th century
Mosaic
Santa Costanza, Rome


 

From Brothel to Court
 

Masterpieces of art and architecture

 

Theodora had a beautiful face and was in every way a graceful woman; not very tall and with a rather pale complexion, and when she looked at you her eyes were feral and penetrating. Were I to narrate her many adventures on and behind the stage, my story would never come to an end.

Procopius, Anecdota, sixth century AD

 

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, erected bv Empress Theodora and Emperor Justiman

 

Theodora's father was a bear-keeper at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, where the Roman crowd went to enjoy the spectacles of chariot and horse racing, circus performances and gladiatorial combats. Growing up among jugglers and gladiators, Theodora ran with a dubious crowd. When she was a girl she stood out among the capital's actresses, dancers and hetaerae (female companions and courtesans) for her wit, her charm, her beauty and her shamelessness. The Byzantine historian Procopius said of her: "She bared her body front and back, inviting men to look at charms that are supposed to remain unseen, and became an expert in the techniques of exciting lust so as to hold worldly men in her thrall." Among her admirers were judges, scholars and statesmen — and a young Senator named Justinian. Roman law forbade the marriage of a Senator to an actress, but the ardent aristocrat persuaded the Emperor Julian to revoke the law so that he could marry her. Justinian's mother is said to have died of grief.

Justinian became ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire in AD 527 and the one-time courtesan became an empress, reigning jointly with her husband. We hear that priests who did not bend to her will were persecuted and that she had a secret police which spied on and tortured the thousands of people whom she considered her enemies. Her ladies-in-waiting, with whom she is depicted in a mosaic in the church of San Vitale at Ravenna, which was then a Byzantine outpost in Italy, are all supposed to have been former courtesans. In the same church, Emperor Justinian is portrayed with his attendants in another mosaic on a wall directly opposite Theodora. The two rulers were to be seen analogously to Christ and the Virgin, symbolizing the union of earthly and spiritual authority and "divine kingship".

Procopius seems to have taken a leering delight in writing Anecdota, an historical expose about an Emperor and Empress, whom he held in contempt. But others considered Theodora to be generous, compassionate towards the poor and a devout Christian. Together with the Emperor she had churches and monasteries built, most importantly Hagia Sophia (The Church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople), 532—37, which remains the most important achievement of Byzantine architecture. Contemporary historians are kindly disposed towards Theodora. They admire her unusual erudition and intelligence and credit her with doing much to strengthen the will of her indecisive husband and inspiring him in the work of defending the Empire.

 

Anonymous, Byzantine
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants
c. AD 547
Mosaic
Detail from the apse of San Vitale, Revenna


 

"Which Was, and Which Is, and Which Is to Come"
 

The end of the world and an artwork for posterity

 

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each one of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and which is, and which is to come.

The Revelation of Saint John the Divine (4:7-8)

 

The Long Hall in Trinity College, Dublin, where the Book of Kells can be marvelled today

 

Around AD 1000, the troops of Emperor Otto were surprised by an eclipse of the sun. These fearless warriors were terrified and thought that Armageddon — the end of the world — had come; they climbed into barrels and hid under carts. Calculations and prophesies setting a date for the end of the world has long been a fixation: Christopher Columbus predicted it would happen in 1647, and the French astrologer Nostradamus (1503—1566) spoke of a "King of Terrors" who would come down from heaven in the year 1999. Just as no man knows the hour of his death, so too is the end of the world a mystery: ''The Lord of that servant shall come in a day, when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of ... ", according to the Gospel of Matthew (24: 50).

Though precisely when the last hour will be is not clear in the Bible, how it will happen is vividly described. St John the Divine writes in the book of Revelation that, at the end of time, God will come into the world and pronounce judgement upon mankind. His throne will be flanked by the Four Beasts of the Apocalypse: man, lion, bull and eagle. These beings are also interpreted as symbols of the earthly Creation, which is traditionally signified by the number four; hence the four elements, the four seasons and the four corners of the earth. The New Testament, which tells of the "new covenant" between God and man, opens with the gospels of the four Evangelists that form the majority of this work. Each Evangelist is represented by one of the Four Beasts of the Apocalypse: Matthew by the man, Mark by the lion, Luke by the bull and John by the eagle.

In reference to this evangelistic and apocalyptic imagery, these four beings appear in the Book of Kells. An illuminated manuscript from the eighth or ninth century, this work contains the four Gospels together with magnificently painted illustrations and intricate embellishments with a mix of geometric and zoomorphic forms. The Book of Kells represents the climax of Irish manuscript illumination, an art influenced by the work of both the Celts and the Germanic peoples. A priceless legacy of the early Middle Ages, it is considered a supreme achievement of Western civilisation. It was probably created from around 800, but where it was made still remains a mystery: probably from a monastery library at Kells (sixty-five kilometres northwest of Dublin), in Northumbria, or perhaps even in eastern Scotland. This book is perceived as a "sacred relic of art", and so exquisite that it was once believed to be the work of angels. The first mention of the Book of Kells was in 1007, when it is recorded stolen — "impiously by night" — but, after "twenty nights and two months", it miraculously reappeared having been hidden underneath a small piece of turf.

 

Anonymous
Man, Lion, Bull and Eagle
с. 800
From the Book of Kells
Illuminated manuscript
Trinity College, Dublin


 

Idle Hands Are the Devil's Workshop
 

Ora et labora!

 

Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore at certain hours the Brothers should busy themselves with crafts, at other hours in reading Holy Writ.

The Rule of St Benedict of Nursia, from chapter forty-eight

 

Pray and play: In the Bavarian monastey at Andechs the monks
still observe the Rule of St Benedict.
But this doesn't mean that they are not allowed to play the odd game of cards!
 

Two books were always displayed at the

medieval bishops' synods and meetings of the Reicherat of the Holy Roman Empire: the Bible and the Rule of St Benedict. Promoted actively by Emperor Charlemagne (742—814), the Rule was accepted throughout Europe as a guide for Christian conduct, and still today committed Christians around the world use it as a guide to godly life. The Rule, comprising seventy-three chapters, was originally conceived as a code to govern the everyday lives of monks. Regulating monastic life in astonishing detail, it even admonishes monastery cellarers to serve their fellow monks "the proper amount of food and drink" without "treating them with condescension or keeping them waiting". The humanity which is apparent in every part of the Rule and its quiet, almost democratic, tone guaranteed its success. In fact, it became the model Rule of conduct for monks and monasteries in other Orders too — and, today, the Rule is still observed in a number of recently established Benedictine monasteries in the United States. In Europe, the significance of the Rule and its fruit are far reaching. St Benedict's basic principle of "ora et labora" (prayer and work) represents a deliberate rejection of the otherworldly piety practised by the early ascetics of the deserts. The Rule, in contrast, requires the individual monk to pay more than lip-service to God by serving Him with his hands. Thus many Benedictine monasteries became the leading centres of culture in Europe, in which the art of manuscript illumination and the chronicling of history, the writing of poetry and music, the practice of agriculture and animal husbandry flourished. The best schools and the most modern hospitals of the early and high Middle Ages were run by sophisticated and highly educated monks who wore the habit of St Benedict.

What do we know about St Benedict himself, the "father of monks and educator of the West"? He was born in the Italian town of Nursia in с. 480, and later lived as a recluse in a forest east of Rome. Around 529, St Benedict founded Europe's first monastery at Monte Cassino near Naples, which became the fountain of European monasti-cism and, presumably, the place where the saint died in 547. Today, scholars question the veracity of the various details of his life which have come down to us; some even doubt whether there was a St Benedict at all. Yet, it is certain that the Rule, which bears the name of St Benedict, has powerfully formed European civilisation and culture.

 

Anonymous, Italian
The Death of St Benedict
11th century
Detail from Cod.Vat. Lat. 1202
Illuminated manuscript
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome


 

1066 and All That
 

"And the hooves of their horses trod down the corpses"

 

Now evening had come and the Anglo-Saxons knew that they could not withstand the Normans. They feared the implacable wrath of Duke William, who spared no one. They were routed and fled: on horses captured from their foes, on foot, some along the way, many across the open fields. Those who could stand no longer nor had the strength to flee

writhed in their own blood. Many died in the depths of the wood. Although the region was unfamiliar to them, the Normans relentlessly pursued their adversaries and fought them to the death, and the hooves of their horses trod down the corpses as they galloped away.

William of Poitiers, The Deeds of William, Duke of Normandy and King of the Anglo-Saxons, 1073/74

 

see collection:  Bayeux Tapestry
 

The Vikings — the scourge of Europe. The

West lived in terror of these men who came down from the Scandinavian north in their dragon-like ships. Their geographical location gave rise to another naine, the "Nor(th)mans". From the eighth century they attacked the coasts of Great Britain and France and sailed up the great rivers right into the heart of Europe, arriving without warning at the gates of Cologne and Paris. Normandy, the first Viking kingdom in Western Europe, was founded at the mouth of the Seine in 911. The Vikings also persisted in their attempts to establish a strong foothold in England.

William the Conqueror (c. 1028—1087), Duke of Normandy, finally secured Norman rule in England in 1066. On 27 September of that year, he sailed from the Norman coast under the cover of darkness. His ships carried 7,000 men, horses, weapons, provisions and even a dismantled wooden fortress which could be reassembled. Landing in the early morning, William rallied his troups and marched to Hastings. There, the decisive battle of the compaign was fought on 14 October 1066. The Anglo-Saxon forces, led by King Harold II, had been weakened by their hard-won victory over the Norwegian Vikings some days before as well as the subsequent march to Hastings. They were defeated and Harold was killed by a Norman arrow. With Harold dead and his army routed, the fortified Normans were at leisure to hunt down the hapless Anglo-Saxon soldiers. A few weeks later, on Christmas Day 1066, William had himself crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. For his victory, history has given him the epithet "The Conqueror".

The Bayeux Tapestry preserves the memory of his victorious campaign which linked England more closely to Latin culture and the West. The tapestry is seventy-three metres long and one of the most important pictorial records of medieval history. Rich in detail and exquisitely made, it portrays clothing, armour, weapons, vehicles, ships and even banquets and celebrations from the eleventh century. Legend has it that the tapestry was woven by Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror, but it is more likely that it was made by nuns. In any case, it is a masterpiece presumed to have been created by women in southern England, and was probably commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux (1036?—1097), the half-brother of William the Conqueror. This particular detail of the tapestry shows the Anglo-Saxon soldiers fleeing and, presumably, King Harold being struck by an arrow in the head.

 

Anonymous
The Bayeux Tapestry
c. 1066—1082
Detail
Canvas, embroidered m coloured wool
Musee de la Tapisserie, Bayeux