Sammi Lonsdale
Visual Culture and the Body
Van Lenning
Assignment 1
The Expulsion of Adam & Eve from Paradise (1791)
Benjamin West (American) ________________________________________
Introduction
“The Expulsion of Adam and Eve”, created by the American artist, Benjamin West, in 1791 depicts Adam and Eve being removed from the Garden of Eden. Although Benjamin West grew up as an American, he spent the later period of his life in Italy and England. During the time that West was painting this masterpiece, America was going through major changes in their political and religious systems. The United States, newly freed from the grasp of England’s authoritative rule, was still trying to establish itself in their own unique way. Washington D.C was
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The first thing one might notice about these characters is that they are Caucasian, clothed, and natural. This is characteristic of the later Augustin Christian tradition that Erik Borgman spoke of in the beginning of the interview. No one is sexualized in this painting, all “private” areas on the body are covered, and there is no makeup or other sexual forces taking place in this painting. It is pure. This could simply be a reflection of the times that West was painting in, or, perhaps it is simply because Adam and Eve were described as having clothes on when they left Paradise. Furthermore, there are no marks on any of the bodies. According to the text by Michael Barilan, the body reflects the life lived by the person who embodies it . The scars and marks on the body personify it further, giving the body a history and a story of its own. However, since these bodies have no flaws, Barilan says that these bodies might belong to saints . But Adam and Eve are not saints. They are imperfect human beings now. It is curious that even though Adam and Eve are being removed from paradise, changed into a mortal form, and physically punished for their misdeeds they show no aesthetic
The sculptures that were created of nude subjects were some of religious reason. Romans created their sculptures of their gods as nude in an ideal shape of beauty for Roman men and women. Though Aphrodite was the first sculpted nude woman or god to be created in the Roman era. It must be the content of which the images on the bronze doors are based on that encourages the craftsman to feature sexuality as wrong and
In American history very few years will ever stand out or even leave an imprint in America's history, but there is one year in our past that particularly stands out. That year was 1776 when we gained our independence from England. In the book 1776 David McCullough captures the events of the year 1776 with remarkable clarity and paints a vivid picture that makes his book, 1776, a significant contribution to the study of 18th century America and the American Revolution.
Among the founders of the United States, George Washington especially demonstrated characteristics of a visionary leader and the intellectual and moral capacity, over a long period of time and in the course of manifold problems, to keep coherency of long range ideas and goals and short term actions. This is why, we can assert that George Washington had colossal aptitude in leadership. Consider this assertion in terms of his roles as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army of the Revolution, the president of the Constitutional Convention and the first President of the United States of America. In 1775, George Washington was unanimously elected “to command all the continental forces, raised, or to be raised for the defence of American
Creating a government that was strong enough to overcome other governments was key, but not so powerful that it concerned the people of their own state’s individual rights. There were many American diplomats that contributed to the first constitution or The Articles of Confederation. Opinions were given, disagreements took place, and revisions were made. Still there were some that were
On one hand the fledgling government strived to apply considerably fair republican and Enlightenment ideas to the new system. Through this strong belief in the natural rights of life, liberty, and property, the colonists were able to unite and connect under one American identity. No longer did they identify with the despicable British, the colonists were now free, American men ready to reap , as stated in Document B, “the sweets of independence.” People were ready for the new promise of equality, with no all-powerful aristocracy or church to govern the day to day lives of the common. For example, Document D describes the freedom of religion in Virginia and thus showing a moderate progression toward the separation of church and state.
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty” (Maya Angelou). Often to achieve great literature, another inspirational work must be warped and altered so that it may evolve into another piece to be cherished for years to come. In order to achieve the East of Eden, John Steinbeck transformed the Biblical accounts of Adam and Eve and their sons, Cain and Abel, into a modern telling of the good and evil found in most people. Steinbeck reincarnates the family of Adam and Eve through multiple characters, demonstrating that both their failures and triumphs are in almost all people, but their destiny is controlled by their own individual decisions. Steinbeck illustrates Adam
and she was viewed as a beautiful, perfect, goddess. How come Penelope and Aphrodite were viewed as perfect, but were doing the opposite things. That is all because of the
Around the year 1776, important Englishmen in the colonies discovered that they could use the development from creating a country, the United States of America, they could control the land, profits, and take the power from people in favor of the British Empire. In addition they could hold back potential rebellions and
It also brings the quarrel with England from a political dispute to a very large event. It implies that America’s situation has problems with moral legitimacy. The introduction identifies the purpose of the Declaration; to declare the causes of America breaking off from England. The preamble outlines a general philosophy of government that makes revolution justifiable.
Until now, the Garden of Eden story has been approached with the ideas of the garden and the role of God in mind, but the parallel between the “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and the Garden of Eden biblical story also extends to the characters of Giovanni and Beatrice. However, by extending the parallel to these two main characters, one notices how the interpretation takes a different turn. Within the realm of the original story. God created Adam as the first man and then Eve as the first woman. Inside the New International Version of the Bible, it states “…the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.
Uncontrolled emotionalism and shameful truth were now common characteristics to most of them. Still throughout the hellenistic, many sculptures were distinguished by their calmness, grace, and compassion for human suffering. The Ancient Greek sculptures were commonly made from stone or wood and very few of them are still existing to this day. Many were made to reflect the image of a freestanding human form even when the statue was of a god, and for this reason many of the sculptures were naked, the Greeks saw nudity as something beautiful. Other of the sculptures showed athletic figures, to essentially portray what the Greeks perceived as an ideal human and what it should look
DBQ Between the years 1750 and 1776, England was locking down on the colonies, imposing lots of taxes against the colonists such as the Stamp Acts and Townshend Acts. Tensions were high between England and the colonies and the idea that a Revolution might take place wasn’t out of the question. And it was between those 25 years that colonists in America began to find a sense of unity and a sense of their own individual identities.
America was what it seemed to be :swallowed by the power of the republic” (Document 1). After our nation realized we weren’t getting anywhere with England, delegates decided to sit down and begin to write the Declaration of Independence. During this meeting they decided to subside from the parliament of Great Britain and declare the colonies to be free and independent states. This allowed them to have the power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all things independent states have the right to do (Document 2). Before we declared
A meeting was called up, number of delegates have met in Philadelphia to discuss/construct a new form of government. Here is where George Washington became America’s first president and a new government was formed. George Washington was a leader of integrity and respected all his people and their rights, he lead by the land of the law (the Constitution). The system had been very successful, the national government had an increase in power in which the civilians were no longer allowed to do as they please. It had created boundaries between the two.
Ushistory. Org states “Ancient Greek art emphasized the importance and accomplishments of human beings. Even though much of Greek art was meant to honor the gods, those very gods were created in the image of humans”( Ushistory.org, 1). Ancient Greek sculptures made of either stone or wood and very few this day. Some sculptures the greeks made were freehanded, human form and preferred nudes.