Images With(In) Books

It is interesting to me that in Arabic texts, which I am going to assume are mainly in the Muslim tradition, figures, people, and animals are depicted. In both Islam and Judaism it is generally considered idolatrous to depict figures, at least in modernity. I did some reading over winter break about ancient Semitic practices which dated to ~3,000 years ago and the book indicated that ancient Judaism did have some depictions of figures and animals. It is a small leap of faith to say that Islam had the same practices, but I had assumed that around the time of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula (~1440s) the tradition of figurative depiction had long since died out with the Diaspora. It interested me to hear that around the trading posts a century previous and leading up to the Reconquista Semitic texts did include figurative depictions.

 

Of course, this is assuming that most texts being illuminated at the time were religious ones. It would interest me to know the percentage of illumanated texts that are non-religious.

The Très Riches Heures we discussed this week intrigued me because of the many cultural clues it offers. “January ~ February” shows the nobles feasting and celebrating, while the peasants are out in the cold, laboring. Upon closer inspection, significant differences become even clearer. Take the animals in the images, for example. The right hand bottom corner of the image of the nobles shows a well-fed dog, perhaps getting affection or even food from an owner. Meanwhile, the mule at the top of the image of the peasants is walking uphill in the snow, carrying a heavy load. It is interesting how the animals themselves take on the status and activities of the people around them, demonstrating the clear-cut separation between the two classes. The concept of clothing also fascinates me. We see a lot of blue being worn in these depictions, yet how they are worn makes an important statement. While the image on the left shows wealthy nobles in long, flattering, rich blue outfits, the image on the right attempts to mock the peasants, who wear the same colors but appear to be slightly exposing themselves or wearing clothing that doesn’t fit properly. I find the Très Riches Heures extremely informative about what types of separation occurred in the 1400s.

I’d like to return to the conversation we began in class about arabesque art and representation. I’m intrigued by this art form and the way its lack of realistic perspective is replaced by the dominance of patterns and geometric figures to reflect the perception of the infinite, uncentralized nature of the world as Allah’s creation. Juxtaposed with the Tres Riches Heures, which render a secular and narcissistic portrayal of wealth and power, arabesque art portrays the sublime nature of the universe in a way that avoids detailing faces and depicting individuals, which was seen as an evil act. Although arabesque art is clearly more religious than the Tres Riches Heures, it still differs greatly from the more religious Books of Hours we’ve studied in terms of representation and style. The Books of Hours focus on the representation of the individual as does the Tres Riches Heures, but with primarily religious subject matter. It’s really fascinating how representation within these art forms reflects cultural and religious beliefs and values.

I find it interesting that, for the most part, people in Western culture are raised to value realistic perspective as a mark of artistry, especially in non-contemporary art. From the ancient Greeks’ dedication to portraying the human being as realistically and proportionally as possible to the development of linear perspective and later mastery of it to Renaissance humanism, many Western artists have greatly valued the representation of individuals. I personally find the geometric patterns of the arabesque incredibly beautiful. The intricate patterns and their effect on the viewer demonstrate great artistry that differs greatly from that of Western artists. In class I remember briefly discussing that the colors in later arabesque art began to resemble the colors of Venetian and European art—an indication of European influence. We also mentioned the visible similarities to Japanese art. I guess it’s natural for different cultures to be influenced by each other’s art, but I think the differences in styles, which are extremely visible when juxtaposing the arabesque and the type of medieval art in the Books of Hours, are extremely valuable.

In looking into the Book of Hours, Tres Riches Heures, and My Name is Red, I have found myself wondering about the role of the elite patrons of the illuminated manuscripts.  The Duc de Berry was a secular elite whose wealth and influence allowed him to sponsor a religious work that served as a survey of all his lands, juxtaposing the Duc’s extravagance with his subject’s conditions.  It seems like a very odd choice for a book of prayer.  I would like to know just how much influence he had in what was being depicted and how much was the Limbourg brothers’ choice.  Did they view their work as inherently religious or did they see it as a job for a patron?

The Persian illuminated manuscripts we looked at were not religious at all, probably partly owing to an aversion to idolatry, and  My Name is Red seems to portray illumination as a largely secular pursuit in its account of the men working on the Sultan’s Book of Festivities.  Illustrations are reserved for secular activities and traditional stories rather than religious devotion.  In some ways they seem to be the opposite of the European focus for illustrations, with exceptions like the Tres Riches Heures.  I look forward to more insights as we read more of the story.

The Venetian manuscripts of the 16^th century privileged individual style over the imitation of past artistic forms. It was an innovative philosophy that would trouble the Ottoman Empire, a culture whose miniaturists conformed to Islamic practices that foregrounded non-representational techniques, portraying, through ornamentation, not “a tree” but “its meaning”. To look upon a Persian manuscript was to look down from a beautiful minaret, to look through Allah’s eyes, to see earth from a great distance and, as such, only see whispers of it. Consequently, an artist who broke from such artistic traditions, allowing themselves to be influenced by renaissance aesthetics, was deemed sacrilegious.

Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red carves a murder mystery from a climate of such Islamic reluctance to Western, artistic influence. Miniaturists, who are secretly producing a book in the style of western manuscripts, are met with murderous contempt from their devout Islamic counterparts. And it is this disdain for prospective, individual style that prophesizes, through accidental allegory, contemporary art culture’s future.

With the advent of technology, contemporary culture has feasibly reverted to a reverence for conformity once more. Contemplate the ‘remix culture’, a recent art movement that encourages derivative works, works that support adherence to form. It could be argued that this has occurred from an over proliferation of Renaissance art’s desire for, aforementioned, individual style, meaning we have run out of new styles and ideas.

Everything has perhaps already been done.

This undoubtedly creates a ‘reverence’, ironically, for past masters in secular arts whose work we now create pastiches of. Even My Name is Red is a historical drama, a ‘remix of the past’, a pastiche of a culture that once was.

Considering, then, the reaction of devout Muslims to ‘heretical’ miniatures in the 16^th century, I wonder how contemporary society, one that is largely secular, might react to future art movements that revolt against remix culture’s ‘pseudo-religious’ worshipping of preexisting aesthetics?

How will we react to artists’ desire for personal identity in their work?

I appreciate how we studied European illuminated manuscripts before beginning My Name is Red. Learning about Western traditions of including personal touches, inside jokes, references to patrons, and many other individualistic qualities has provided me with strong points of comparison that help me better understand non-Western traditions. Consequently, I’ve been more able to feel the gravity of one of the main aspects of the novel’s plot — that is, why it was such a big deal to include a signature or use a certain style, such that the culprit felt the need to kill.

One line that does a good job of summing up the Turkish/non-Western style of illuminated manuscripts is, “I don’t want to be a tree, I want to be its meaning” (51). The tree looks frantically for the story or context that it belongs to. It doesn’t care about whether people can identify who it was drawn by. Thus, the tree’s sentiment reflects the non-Western emphasis on conceptual over visual/aesthetic representation, as it wants to show a meaning instead of a thing. Additionally, the tree also sort of reflects the symbolizing of the infinite and decentralized that we talked about in class, in that this meaning will be passed on from generation to generation (I think?). Hence, the tree is part of something bigger than itself, transcending time and space through its role in illuminating well-known stories and concepts.

I might be wrong on this, but I feel like in a few instances, Pamuk plays with the concept of mortality. I feel like some of the novel’s characters are very conscious of the fact that they are human and will die, and thus wonder about their legacy. (I don’t know what caused this concern, perhaps it’s from having more contact with European creators, who are heavily focused on the intimate, the personal, and the one-on-one worship?) In any case, I think Pamuk explores an interesting dilemma between our finite lives and the possibly infinite lives of the things we leave behind (the original artwork doesn’t even have to exist anymore for us to talk about, think about, or incorporate it). For example, the murderer believes that his skills were meant to be seen: “Allah wouldn’t have bestowed this favor upon us miniaturists” (19) (but I guess the rebuttal to that would be, the gift was meant not meant for you to show your identity through depiction of the sacred?). The Shah’s daughter rejects the man who won the painting competition with his faithfully traditional works, because they contained no essence of her. She wanted something that proved his love to her in their shared lifetime. Even the corpse questions his mark on the world: “But, [is my family] truly waiting? . . . Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time. I never thought of it before: I’d been living luminously between two eternities of darkness” (3). I wonder if the corpse’s thoughts are any indication that he might change his opinion on conceptual versus visual representation later in the novel (not that either one is better than the other). These questions of how we could deal with our mortalities as humans is one of the underlying issues behind the seemingly inconsequential decision (at least today) to include our own signatures, personal touches, styles, or flairs.

The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry is a famously known French illuminated manuscript that was painted by the Limbourg brothers. Although the Limbourg brothers were unable to finish the book, this Book of Hours is still considered a valuable piecework. The Très Riches Heures features all the months of the year and depicts the labors during those months for both the duke’s court and servants. Each month piece holds an astrological calendar with the appropriate zodiac sign. The Très Riches Heures is good representation of the seasons as well a demonstration of power and wealth. The Duc de Berry’s Book of Hours was a way to showcase the duke’s his wealth.

Although the Limbourg brothers were unable to finish the Très Riches Heures, I feel like the book should not have been given to another painter to finish. This most likely due to my preference but I would have rather preferred the piece to be unfinished than have something added to the book that was inconsistent with the style. The difference in style can be seen in November and December. The styles for these months are a huge contrast to the orginal Limbourg brother’s style. For instance, in the Limbourg brothers’ paintings, the duke’s castles are always shown but in the last two months they are not. The previous months are lighter while the last two months are darker.This might just be a problem of preference but I believe the Très Riches Heures should have been left unfinished. What do you think?

After looking through and reading all about the Duc De Berry’s personal book of hours done by the Limbourg brothers, the Tres Riches Heures, I am left very curious about the effect it had during the time it was created. It stands out from all other books of hours because it is secular, and Professor Serrano even called it a “radical text”. It is also unusual because of the consistent juxtaposition between the upper class people and the laborers. Because the Tres Riches Heures is so totally different from any other book of hours from its time, both in purpose and content, I wonder what people thought of it when the Duc De Berry showed it to them. I think those similar to the Duc in terms of being secular would find the Tres Riches Heures very amusing, since it is essentially making a mockery of traditional books of hours by making it all about the Duc and his possessions rather than all about Christianity. Those who were still religious, however, could find the Tres Riches Heures offensive for the same reason. Or, perhaps the Duc didn’t like to show off his book of hours and kept it to himself. But I doubt it.

I think that the Tres Riches Heures was intended to be a humorous text. What really led me to think this was all of the commentary in the illustrations between the rich and the poor. The Limbourg brother switch back and forth each month between miniatures with scenes of the rich and with scenes of the poor. In January, we see a scene of a marvelous feast with the Duc at the center surrounded by friends and food and even his dogs. It all looks very proper and as if everyone is having a blast. The next image for the month of February shows the servants gathered inside also having a good time, but they are all lifting their skirts or messing with their pants to reveal themselves. This suggests that either the Duc de Berry or the Limbourg brothers thinks that the way poor people have a good time and enjoy themselves is by doing something that the rich people would never do and would find very improper.

Not only did the Duc de Berry change the whole meaning of a book of hours by having the main subject of the Tres Riches Heures be himself rather than his religion, he also seemed to make a lot of commentary on the relationship between the rich and the poor. Because of this, I believe that the Tres Riches Heures was created to be a radical and humorous text, but maybe I’m reading too far into it. What do you guys think?

In My Name is Red, the characters reflect on the disconcerting atmosphere of Istanbul which is mostly attributed to the spread of extremist opinions about Islamic beliefs. I find the most deplorable part of this account is that the wrong beliefs are spread by a cleric who claims piety as a way to influence the people and achieve the reputation he wants for himself as a respected leader.

The concept that the stories in the Koran cannot be represented does not mean that Islam is against any artistic representation and beautiful talents. The idea of the supremacy of God’s words to an extent that makes it indescribable, more sophisticated than human abilities of visualization is, among other reasons, for the purpose of leading humans to not be limited by a certain mundane representation of God that they created with their own hands. What God says remains His only, people listen to His words, contemplate their meanings and avoid restricting these meanings to artworks. This way, the relationship between people and God remains wholly spiritual and completely detached from any embodied representation. The of God are beyond human verbal abilities, no one can write so eloquently; therefore, so is the visual representation of these verses beyond any conceivable abilities. However, that does not mean that any person who does that is killed in Islam, that is not correct. The fact that the people were doing that secretly draws a false comparison between The Book of Kells and the attempt to represent the Koran, making it seem like a fully justified act by a group of ambitious artists. This is inaccurate because the Koran is not made to be recreated, but rather to be read and contemplated and that is the greatest fruit that one can gain from this Holy Book. In fact, it is rather a disrespectful attempt. There is a great meaning that ultimately dictates the sacredness of the Koran: for man to expand his relationship with God in the broadest possible sense.

The tense atmosphere was not just because there was a great controversy about what opinions correspond most accurately to Islam, but also because artists were racing to prove their abilities. The artist himself experienced frenzied worry about leaving behind a blissfully ornamented world, fully picturing the scene of his death, a very unsettling experience it must have been living in Turkey at that time. I believe the murdered reached a point of extreme infatuation of his talent that he thought he was too good to keep doing simple works and “aspired” to create something glorious. But he certainly went too far and as a result of his guilt, he freaked out and killed his brother. The artist became obsessed with his talent.

What I found most interesting about the Book of Hours, Tres Riches Heures, and My Name is Red was the combination and contrast between the secular and the sacred within these three texts.  In the Book of Hours, you have a work devoted to daily prayer and thought, but some illustrations found on its pages are bizarre and joking.  In Tres Riches Heures, you find extremely secular scenes during a time when this type of boastful artwork typically wasn’t common.  My Name is Red weaves secular stories around the creation and creators of sacred texts, while drawing from cultural texts as well.  I always find it interesting, especially during more religious times such as the Middle Ages, when secular images, stories, or works in general pop up.  They can seem very out of place but do a good job of giving insight into the average daily life (to some degree) of the people involved.  For example, we know quite a bit about the Duc de Berry in part because of the way in which he commissioned the Tres Riches Heures because of what he wanted to showcase.  From that book we can tell what was important to him, the vastness of his wealth, and a bit about his boastful personality.  It’s essentially physical proof to corroborate any documentation about the Duc de Berry at this time.  My Name is Red also gives a whimsical, personal touch to the Turkish manuscripts through individual character’s stories.  Overall, I’m looking forward to finishing up My Name is Red to see what other comparisons and contrasts between the secular and sacred can be found.