{"id":1948,"date":"2020-03-25T12:44:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T12:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/?post_type=blog&p=1948"},"modified":"2024-09-15T09:50:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T09:50:27","slug":"fear-of-the-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/blogs\/fear-of-the-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear of the Apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the midpoint of our life’s journey,
I found myself in a dark forest,
For the straightforward path had been lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante Alighieri, Prologue to the entire “Comedy,”
reorchestrated by Kolja Mi\u0107evi\u0107, Rad, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Difficult times call for good literature, so I kindly ask readers not to hold it against me for starting this series of articles on art with an overture to one of the masterpieces of world literature, despite the fact that the verses lead into the gloomy journey through Dante\u2019s \u201cInferno.\u201d I\u2019m aware that it\u2019s inappropriate for a lady to reveal her age, but I must note that Dante\u2019s \u201cmidway through life\u201d refers to the age of 35 (as interpreted in the poet\u2019s analysis of life\u2019s course in Convivio IV 23<\/em>), which I found highly symbolic as I too, alas, faced this great crisis of my generation at the same age. I should immediately clarify that I\u2019m not drawing any comparisons between myself and the great poet, merely pointing out a detail that, I must admit, amused me greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a true lover of art, I greeted the declaration of the state of emergency by revisiting Bergman\u2019s The Seventh Seal<\/em>, which I currently do not recommend to anyone despite the relevance of its themes and Bergman\u2019s brilliant portrayal of personal and collective crisis during the time of the Crusades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will, in fact, be the subject of a few short essays on art\u2014how this great crisis of humanity, which began nearly a thousand years ago, changed the collective consciousness and, consequently, art itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear of the Apocalypse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Dante\u2019s contemporary, Giotto, painted the Scrovegni Chapel<\/em> in Padua around 1305, his depiction of the Crucifixion<\/em> presented not a God, but a man. Beneath the cross are Christ\u2019s closest followers, their facial expressions and bodily positions clearly reflecting their emotional states in the evil hour of Christ\u2019s earthly departure. This was unimaginable before the Crusades. Emphasizing Christ\u2019s humanity was undesirable, as the topic of His dual nature\u2014both human and divine\u2014had been a theological stumbling block since the early days of Christianity. The Crucifixion<\/em> fresco from the Studenica Monastery<\/em>, which was vividly projected in the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts as part of the recently closed exhibition Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Studenica Monastery \u2013 Antiquity, Continuity, Modernity<\/em>, conveys a more restrained pathos compared to Giotto\u2019s work, consistent with the Byzantine tradition where sorrow is depicted by raising a hand to the face. The work of the anonymous Studenica fresco painter and Giotto\u2019s piece are separated by a hundred years, yet they share the same sentimentality and the artists\u2019 desire to draw the viewer into the intimate circle of Christ\u2019s followers, making them accomplices in the scene of suffering. The aim to emphasize Christ\u2019s human side, relatable to us, his humanity expressed through his earthly suffering, began to emerge in Byzantine art from the 11th century, coinciding with the wars that led to the crisis of faith in the medieval mind. The uncertainty of daily wartime life and the spread of a new religion that threatened the very foundation of Christian faith seemed to signal the coming Apocalypse. The plague, which arrived in Europe shortly after the end of the Crusades, was seen as confirmation of apocalyptic prophecies. The medieval person\u2019s only hope lay in the belief that God was indeed capable of mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proof of that mercy is precisely Christ\u2019s Incarnation\u2014His birth, which culminated in His Passion on the cross for the salvation of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In upcoming posts, we will explore the development of Passion devotion in greater detail, as well as some specific religious and artistic practices that arose as a result of the medieval man\u2019s crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that the forthcoming articles will both educate and entertain you, despite the chosen theme, which is presented in the hope that the current unfortunate events will result in an enrichment of our collective consciousness with more humane content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward to parting ways with these times soon and finding new amusements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jovana Pikuli\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1333,"template":"","class_list":["post-1948","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/warped-development.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}