On Wednesday, in Seminar, we resumed our discussion on the significance of John Berger in “Ways of Seeing”. So far, this class has made me view art in a completely different perspective. Before, I didn’t really think much of different artworks, but now every time I look at a piece, I find myself wondering about its origins. At the start of class, we looked at some clips from the movie, “The Girl With the Pearl Earrings”. We saw a girl who began to see the world from a new perspective, similar to how I began to see art. During the last half hour of our class, we visited an art exhibit titled Art, Science, and Religion in the Physica Sacra. At first, I didn’t quite know what to think of the paintings. They were confusing. But after looking at them closely, and discussing it with my peers, I gained a better insight. Scheuchzer’s works demonstrated how two seemingly diverse topics, religion and science, can be combined to create a magnificent element, art. I loved how the art, in a way, brought the scientific and religious ideologies to life.

Dr. Liu’s discussion taught me a lot. For as long as I’ve been in school, my life has mainly centered on math and science. It was after I began Macaulay that I started to explore new territory in the arts. I see the significance behind art, and how it represents the feelings of that era. After just a few classes, I’m already beginning to appreciate the art around me, more than I ever did before.

In today’s seminar, we had a special opportunity to go visit an art gallery a few doors down from our classroom. However, this was not just an ordinary gallery consisting of random pieces of art. When I walked in, I was very surprised at what I saw: paintings of religious events and icons. When Dr. Liu started to speak about how art, religion, and science were all related, I was confused at first, because I had never associated any of those things together. However, after reading the pamphlet from “Expanding Frames of Reference: Art, Science, and Religion in the Physica Sacra of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer,” it all became clear to me.

Dr. Liu vividly explained “Physica Sacra plate CCCLXXI” and how it relates to art, science, and religion. While gazing at this picture, I immediately noticed that the sun was the focal point of the picture. The beams of light emanating from it show its radiant power. In Dr. Liu’s analysis, he explained that the moon couldn’t be full when it is in the daytime sky, and thus it was a miracle. The painter conveyed this miracle in his painting by highlighting the sun and the moon as if these all powerful, radiant celestial beings were frozen in time. Along the border of the painting, there are a series of diagrams that show the expected illumination patterns of the world at different times during the day and night. I find this the most interesting part of the painting; it makes us think of the entire world as a whole, rather than just think of ourselves. The sun is perceived as this display of grandeur and power, possibly an allegory for God, that covers the entire earth and gives us light to see when we do not know where to go. The artistic, scientific, and religious aspects of this picture come together to create something beautiful.

On Wednesday, class began with the analysis of a scene from the movie Girl With a Pearl Earring. In this scene, Johannes Vermeer, played by Colin Firth, is beginning a painting of his servant Griet, played by Scarlett Johansson. She is dressed modestly with her hair wrapped in silks to that it is completely hidden. During the time period in which the movie took place, women were only allowed to show their hair to their husbands because it was a symbol of beauty and seduction. However, Vermeer tasked her to take her head wrap off for the different affect of the painting. Eventually she gave in and took it off in private. However, she noticed that Vermeer was watching her take it off and she felt violated and humiliated. This scene reminds me of what I read in the book Ways of Seeing. Women are viewed differently according to what they wear and how they present themselves. As soon as she took off her head wrap, she was viewed as an immodest woman. It is truly amazing how many aspects, such as clothing and style, can have an affect on the reputation of a woman.

During the second half of class, Dr. Charles Liu came to discuss the art gallery displayed in school of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer’s artwork. He told us about the history of Scheuchzer’s artwork and then we looked at and experienced the artwork first hand. The main ideas of Scheuchzer’s artwork are based on science and religion. During his time period, it was taboo to try to explain religion through the use of science. However, he went against society and displayed his love for religion and science in his artwork. One particular work that I enjoyed from his collection was Physica Sacra plate CCCLXXI. This displayed the bible verse Joshua 10: 12-14. In this illustration, Joshua is speaking to the Lord. He is surrounded by beautiful landscapes, mountains, a river, and the sun shining above him. Scheuchzer incorporated science into this illustration by making a frame of worlds shaded in different ways. This showed that he knew the concept of daylight and nighttime by the position of the sun. Scheuchzer’s collection was truly amazing. His subtle ways of incorporating science into his religious artwork taught me to always look at the fine details of art.

This past Wednesday in seminar, we looked at a clip from the movie “Girl with a Pearl Earring” to add to our conversation about hair.  It was brought to my attention that hair was seen much differently a few decades ago than it is now.  The fact that it was associated with sexuality seemed pretty amazing yet ridiculous at the same time.  The thought of having to cover your hair at all times and your husband being the only one to ever see it seems a little insane and also cumbersome.  The scene in “Girl with a Pearl Earring” that illustrated this precept helped me see just how big of a deal showing hair actually was for these women.  To them it did not seem like a stupid idea or an inconvenience, which was a bit of a surprise for me.

For the second half of the class, Dr. Liu came to talk to us about an art exhibit in the CSI gallery that we were about to see.  I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Liu because he did a great job of explaining things in a way that I was able to really understand.  He also made a lot of good points, which had me very interested.  I loved his point about how even though everyone in this day in age is basically forced to specialize in a certain area or subject, it is still possible, and even preferred, that you take an interest in some other areas as well.  Specifically what he was talking about was how a scientist could be knowledgeable of and fascinated by art.  This seemed to be a perfect introduction to the art we were about to see in the CSI gallery, which was filled with very detailed and unique art that did in fact incorporate science, and religion as well.

Science is a complex thing. Our knowledge on various subjects is constantly changing. What was true and valid last week is disproved and replaced with another theory this week. We are still unsure about the world that we are living in. Charles Liu, the Director of the Macaulay and Verrazano Honors College at CSI, challenged us to think outside the box.

When Dr. Liu came in to speak with us, he spoke on the matter of combining religion and science. He posed a question: “Could someone who is verbose in science be just as verbose in religion?” Most of us answered “no,” but in fact, the answer is yes. Look back at some of the famous scientists in history such as Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, even Benjamin Franklin. Besides Science, what else do all these famous people have in common?? The were all philosophers! They were just as well read in science as they were in religion. Fast forward a few hundred years to 2012. When we hear that someone is a scientist, we automatically assume that they have no religious background at all.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2012, we had the honor of attending the opening of an art gallery at CSI. The name of the gallery was “Expanding Frames of Reference: Art, Science and Religion.” Normally, you don’t see those three terms in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence! Well, a Swiss scholar Johann Jakob Scheuchzer challenged this idea and developed scientifically based art commissioned to mimic passages from the Bible. The idea was brilliant!

One of the paintings that illustrates this the best is Physica Sacra plate CCCLXXI. The bible quote to go with this plate is found in Joshua, chapter 10, and reads:

“Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.“

In the painting, we see the sun shining over a mountain top and the moon in the back right. Around the frame we can see the changing of the moon and sun over the course of a day. At one point though, it seems that the light patterns have remained static, illustrating the above quote.

I was quite taken back by all of this. I had always been one of those naïve persons who  believed that science and religion could never co-exist. However, Scheuchzer, through his art, demonstrates that scientific principals found their origin in the Bible. After viewing this exhibition, my mind has definitely been changed in regards to this. Science and religion can and do, in fact, co-exist.

Before class on Wednesday, I knew that this seminar class would be about going to see an art exhibit, which is not one of my favorite things to do. However, after Professor Liu came to class to talk about the art exhibit, my opinion changed. I am like him in the sense that I am very interested in science. So when he gave us an introduction to the thought process behind Johann Jakob Scheuchzer when he made his paintings, I became interested in the art exhibit because of my interest in science. It seemed very unique for an artist to unify scientific thought with art and religion. These three concepts are typically unrelated. Science and religion have often clashed because of different theories behind how the universe began. It was interesting to see that there wasn’t a schism in this artists mind, to see how he united art, science and religion in this exhibit.

One particular painting stood out to me in this exhibit, and I think its safe to assume why it made it onto the cover of the information booklet. Scheuchzer’s Plate CCCLXXXI of Judges 14, verse 8, shows his unique intertwining of religion and scientific knowledge. Samson is bent over examining the skeleton of a lion. It shows Scheuchzer’s love of anatomy and fossils because of how Samson is examining the skeleton, and the picture of the completed skeleton above the frame. I also like how Scheuchzer has many details in all of his frames. He unites all of his paintings with his frames. For this painting he put bones on the sides of the frame. In his Plate CCCLXXX of Judges 14, verses 5 and 6, he has the front half of a lion on both sides of the frame, and Greek coins depicting Hercules fighting the Nemean lion. This painting is also very interesting because it combines the story of Samson and Hercules. Normally, Greek mythology and biblical stories are not intertwined in today’s society.