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Alchemy

1. In the 16th and 17thCentury alchemyunderwent a revival in

Europe

2. The basic idea was toturn base metal intogold.

3. There was a desire thatthrough this art societycould be perfected.

4. The belief is that amagician or magus

controls the universe.

The Alchemist

by Thomas Wyck

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1. This was accompaniedby charts charms

symbols throughwhich the underworldcould be reached.

2. Basically dabbling intothe occult and

esotericism

The Alchemist 1663 - Cornelis Bega

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Pieter Brueghel the Elder.The Alchemist. 1558.

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The Enlightenment1. European aristocrats

transferred their lightedcandles from Christian altars

to Masonic lodges2. The flame of occult

Alchemists3. Had promised to turn base

metal into gold4. Became the centre of human

endeavour5. Seeking to recreate a Golden

age6. Through esoteric secretes

long lost7. And Scientific endeavour

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Fire in the Mids of Men: Origins of the RevolutionaryFaith James H. Bilington

Takes its name from Dostoevsky's The Possessed Investigates the passion for revolutionary change which

developed strongly in Central Europe and Russiastarting with the French Revolution of 1789.

Does not focus on events and social causes leading topopular uprisings. Follows a thread of occult societies

all having the common genesis in the motto of theFrench Revolution: "Libert, galit, fraternit".

He describes how the idea of brotherhood was inheritedfrom secret and occult societies such as the freemasonsbecame an inflammatory idea which led to the ParisCommune but then was extinguished as far as popularrevolutions went (until it resurfaced as nationalsocialism in 1920s' Germany).

Instead the idea of egality would become the fuel forsocialism and communism. These two social powerfactions being founded by the two thinkers Proudhonand Marx.

Proudhon being the social and secularist republican(anti-monarchist) individualist and Marx the socialist

anarchist (communism) collectivist.

James H. BillingtonJames Hadley Billington(born June 1, 1929) is an

American academic. He isthe thirteenth Librarian of

the United StatesCongress.

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Designed in 1782 and printed on the back of the United Statesone-dollar bill since 1935.

Neo Platonic Christianity read Virgil's poem as a prophecy of thecoming of Christ. The Augustan Age, although pre-Christian, wasviewed as a golden age preparing the world for the coming ofChrist. The great poets of this age were viewed as a source ofrevelation and light upon the Christian mysteries to come.

the motto Novus ordo seclorum can be translated as "A neworder of the ages to signify "the beginning of the new American

Era" as of the date of the Declaration of Independence.

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The phrases Dawn of a New Day and Sun Rising in

the East have several symbolic meanings but probably

the most important are their symbolic interpretationspertaining to occult Freemasonry.

Most notably the Sun Rising in the East is personified

by the Worshipful Master of a Masonic Lodge whoalways sits in the east representing the rising sun oflight and wisdom in a world filled with darkness.

The Dawn of a New Day represents Freemasonry's

ultimate goal to unite the world under one brotherhoodof man.

In Masonic Orders of Fraternity by Manly P. Hall, hedescribes how a World Fraternity comprised of the

sons of tomorrow would form The Invisible

In 1919, a Canadian teenager with a sixth-grade education arrived by train to the wilds of Los Angeles.Within a decade he had transformed himself into a world-renowned luminary and occult scholar. His name

was Manly Palmer Hall, author of the landmark encyclopedia The Secret Teachings of All Ages and the20th centurys most prolific writer and speaker on ancient philosophies, mysticism, and magic.Hall revealed to thousands how universal wisdom could be found in the myths and symbols of the ancientWestern mystery teachings. He amassed the largest occult library west of the Mississippi and foundedThe Philosophical Research Society in 1934 for the purpose of providing seekers rare access to theworlds wisdom literature. He became a confidante and friend to celebrities and politicians.

In 1990, he diedsome say he was killedin what remains an open-ended Hollywood murder mystery.This dramatic story of Halls life and death provides a panorama of twentieth century mysticism and an

insiders view into a subculture that continues to have a profound influence on movies, television, music,books, art, and thought.

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Scientists of 17-18 Centurieswere steeped in Alchemymagic chemistry and theoccult

Goethe Archetype illuminati

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The Sorcerer'sApprentice

English name ofGoethe's poem Der

Zauberlehrling

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A brilliant mind delving into manynew areas of scientific researchsuch as his treatise on Newtons

theories of colourThese remain a benchmark inprogressive scientificdevelopment

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Goethe regarded his Faustas an opus magnumor divinum. He called it his'main business,' and his whole life was enacted within the framework of thisdrama. Thus, what was alive and active within him was a living substance, a

super personal process, the great dream of the mundus archetypus(archetypalworld).

De La Croix the

painter deeplyaffected byGoethes

writings.

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Faust (Latin Faustus)

Is the protagonist of a popular German tale of a pactwith the Devil, assumed to be based on the figure ofthe German magician and alchemist Dr. JohannGeorge

There are varied and many different accounts of aFaust character the story that people of today aremost familiar with is the version by Goethe basedon a previous play by Christopher Marlow

Faust originated in northern Germany, committed toprint in 1587 with the publishing of a little chapbookbearing the title Historia von D. Iohan Fausten.

Its Anti Catholic sympathies fuelled the reformationtroubles

This story found its way to England where it wastranslated into Englishin 1592 as The Historie of theDamnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor IohnFaustus. It was this work that Christopher Marloweused for his somewhat more ambitious play, The

Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (published c.1600). Another possible inspiration of Marlowe'sversion is John Dee (1527-1609), who practisedforms of alchemy and science and developedEnochian magic.

Along with Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus(published c. 1602), Marlowe's version served to

inspire Goethe's later Faust, which may beconsidered the more definitive classic work.

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Synopsis of Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832)

An old scholar, Faust is dissatisfied and yearns to comprehendnot just all knowledge, but all experience. In such a quest, Faustmakes a bargain with a nihilistic spirit named Mephistopheles.

The pact provides for the loss of Faust's soul in the event thatMephistopheles should provide him with any sensuousexperience to his liking.

Among the temptations offered by Mephistopheles is a young girlby the name of Margaret (Gretchen), whom Faust seduces andabandons, indirectly causing her death and that of the child theyconceived together.

In Part II, Faust continues his association with Mephistophelesand, among other adventures, has a love affair with Helen of Troyand fathers a son with her.

Later, still with the aid of Mephistopheles, Faust reclaims landsfrom the sea which he intends to turn into a paradise on earth --his legacy to humankind.

Happy with his efforts and a vision of the future, Faust is caught ina moment of satisfaction which Mephistopheles claims as hisvictory.

At the last moment, however, God's angels save Faust and bearhis soul to heaven where he is reunited with Gretchen andappointed as teacher of the blessed.

Th Ad f L d i A

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The Advent of Landscape in Art Before this time it was a view through a window or a distant view beyond the main human

subject. In Europe the landscape starts to become more integrated and becomes a vast stage in

which the drama unfolds It culminates in the work of Pieter Bruegel the elder

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Joachin Patinir 1480-1525 Charon crossing the river Styx In this painting he shows us an essentially medieval view of the world

He uses landscape in a new way he was possibly influenced by AlbrechtDurer.

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The River Styx In Greek mythology, Styx () is the name of a river which formed the boundary

between earth and the underworld, Hades. It circles Hades nine times. Styx and Phlegethon, Acheron and Cocytus converge at the

center of Hades on a great marsh. The other important rivers of Hades are Lethe andEridanos.

The ferryman Charon is in modern times commonly believed to have transported thesouls of the newly dead across this river into the underworld.

Actually The newly-dead would be ferried across the Acheron by Charon in order toenter the Underworld.

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Styx is guarded by Phlegyas, whopasses the souls from one side toanother of the river. In other versions,Phlegyas guards Phlegethon, anotherof the main rivers of Hades.

is also the name of a primordialgoddess who represented that river,and was the only female river.

Pierre Subleyras, 1735

Etching by Gustave Dor, 1861Styx

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The gods respected the Styx and swore binding oaths by it. Zeus swore to give Semelewhatever she wanted and was then obliged to follow through, resulting in her death. Heliossimilarly promised Phaton whatever he desired, also resulting in his death. Gods that did notfollow through on such an oath had to drink from the river, causing them to lose their voices fornine years.

According to some versions, Styx had miraculous powers and could make someone immortal.

C id d P h

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Cupid and Psyche

We get some insight to the rules

of the underworld Psyche is sent on some tasks

to prove her love for Eros.

She is told to take her twopieces of barley bread soaked inhoney for the Hound of Hades,and two coins in her mouth for

the greedy ferryman Charon(one for the arrival and one forthe return).

makes it difficult for poor peopleto achieve true death, as they

instead had to wander withouthope on this side of the riverStyx, which is in fact similar totheir fate on earth, where theyare prevented to achieve truelife.

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the earliest un-peopledlandscapes

Albrecht Altdorfer.Landscape with aFootbridge 1518

This picture is a very earlyexample by a WesternEuropean artist of an

independent landscapepainted without figures.

A second landscape byAltdorfer in Munich (AltePinakothek) is also without

figures; the present picturepossibly dates from about1518-20 and may be theearlier of the two.

View of the Danube Valley near

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View of the Danube Valley nearRegensburg

Also may have seen Durer s water

colours

He is known to have taken ajourney down the Danube andafterwards being totally passionateabout landscape.

It shows a particularly German

character bristling with wildforests and lonely wolf infestedglades.

We are offered a romanticsubstitute for mankind, one purer

and more open to the etherealheavens.

Altdorfer believes in thesacramental value of what hepaints, and it is his conviction thatconvinces.

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The peasant paintinger Pieter Bruegel the elder. 1526-69 Flemish painter. He is part an essential European tradition in which the Italian quest for ideal

human form has no place. He was well educated and travelled man who did not really deserve the

accolade Peasant painter.

He was more influenced by other European painters like Bosch and Patinir.

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Brueghel's naer het levensketches

Examples of many different kinds ofpeople country and city

Roughly drawn on the spot in chalk laterworked up in brown ink remarkabledetailed

The wagoner comfortably astride hisweary nag tangle of harness and ropesmeticulously drawn

2 rabbis hunched over a volume of

Talmudic commentary are properlybearded hatted and robed

Scribbled notes are Brueghel's colourreferences

Interestingly, few of these studies aretraceable in actual paintings

Did he sketch for reference or for fun?

There is much speculation as to themotive for doing these.

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His sketches indicate an interest in types rather

than individuals

An expressive posture, slump of an old man, angleof a bent leg or fold of garment.

He almost never shows the face, in paintingsindividuals hardly ever seen alone

Even a poor old woman looks more a general typethan the detailed work of previous contemporariesthe life of the portrait is in the emotion with the dullfeatures of a tired work-worn life

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The Battle between Carnival and Lent-1559

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The battle between carnival andLent ;Wimmelbilder: (picture filledwith people)1559

IN Bruegels day there was a famous festival in

Flanders- a three day festival of celebration eatingand drinking carousing, in the 40 days precedinglent.

During lent, the pios would drink water ate little butfish, and no revelry of any kind.

The painting is centred on a mock battle-atraditional part of the festivities-in which the pietyof lent is comically pitted against the revelry ofCarnival.

At the centre, a brightly dressed grossly fat manrepresenting Carnivals excesses is mounted on ahuge beer barrel, ready to joust with lent, a scrawnycreature clad in mourning and seated on anuncomfortable prayer stool.

Carnival brandishes a cooking spit garnished withrich holiday food while lent weakly holds a bakerspaddle holding two mean herring. Behind Carnivalto the left and the down the side streets, revelers

wolf down waffles, qauff beer and dance gaily. Before the Inn of the Blue Boat comedians act a

farce called The Ugly Bride, while a couple kissesin the window above

The left side of the frame is filled with beggars whoare ignored.

The right side is filled with piety and charity. Dark-robed worshippers stream from an austere Church,a fishwife does a thriving trade beside a well and

kindly burghers dispense alms.

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The Cripples-1568

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The Cripples 1568

Bruegels paintings of common people can be read on many levels This could simply be a shocking realisation of a group of cripples and an old

woman begging These people were an everyday sight in Bruegels day The one idea is these people are paying the price for vice and sin This harsh didactic painting also interpreted as an illustration for an old dutch

proverb Lies go lame as if on crutches

Seen in Historic context may have social and political nuances All the hats worn by the cripples are different for example the mock bishops mitre

on the right, the soldiers red shako on the left suggesting the official headgears ofmembers of the establishment

There also was a group of Flemish noblemen who, agitating against Spanishcontrol in their country took the nickname beggars from a haughty jeer thrown atthem from a Spanish sympathiser

They carried beggars bowls and wore chains and foxtails, the traditional beggarsgarb In time popular support for this movement grew into the wars between Spain and

the Netherlands Long live the beggars became the rallying cry

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The Peasant Dance 1568

Peasant Dance 1568

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Peasant Dance-1568 The most prolonged and riotous

holiday enjoyed by the Flemishpeasants was Kermesse,

Combined fair and fete heldanually on the feast day of thelocal saint

During celebrations a village canbe turned upside down for aweek or more whilst the villagesdanced to the tunes of travellingbagpipes, drank homebrew andbought house wares and trinketsfrom travelling booths set up bytravelling merchants

The flower decked picture of the

Virgin in the tree, the Jesterentertaining a group in thecentre, the gay banner floatingabove the door of what appearsto be a local Inn and the fact thatthe village Church features soprominently in the background

Not a birds eye view as in earlierworks, the viewer is presentedwith an eye level view of thefestivities concentrating on a fewfigures-the wildly gesticulatinggroup at the trestle table;dancers stepping to the song ofa piper

A picture of real people whoseheavy hands, rude gestures, andweathered faces reveal the wearand tear of their daily work.

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Brueghel's earliest surviving design for engraving about 1556 Pen and ink drawing of the temptations of St Anthony This engraving based on the drawing Demonstrates how Breughel used traditional Bible motifs and popular legends of the

lives of the saints as a starting point for compositions Filled with contemporary Flemish proverbs

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Here too are several interlocking Flemish proverbsBig fish eat little fish is the most obviousA flood of other marine creatures some disgorging others spills from the belly wound of a monster fishThe hooded man suggests another saying

Little fish lure the bigThe symbol on the blade suggests the world wide scope of a mans folly.

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Landscape with the fall of Icarus

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What was happening in 1567 68

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March 11 Geuzen army leaves Walcheren to return to OosterweelMarch 13 Battle at Oosterweel: Spanish troops destroy GeuzenlegerApril 11 Dutch prince William of Orange flees from Antwerp to Breda

May 15 Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Earl of BothwellJune 15 Battle at Carberry Scot: Protestant troops beat Earl Bothwells armyJune 15 Genoa Italy expels JewsJune 16 Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in Lochleven Castle prisonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaScotlandJune 20 Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique

July 24 Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate and 1-year-old James VIaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabecomes King of ScotlandAugust 8 Duke of Alva's army enters Brussels BelgiumSeptember 9 Lomaraal van Egmond and Philip van Hoorne capturedSeptember 29 War of Religion - Huguenots try to kidnap king Charles IXOctober 6 Duke of Alva becomes land guardian of Netherlands

November 10 Battle at St-Denis: French government army vs HuguenotsIn 1567, Philip, the Duke of Alba who was a zealous opponent of Protestantism, sent Albainto the Netherlands at the head of an army of 12,000 men, with unlimited powers for theextirpation of the heretics.Alba quickly erected a tribunal, the Council of Troubles, which soon became known to theCalvinists as the "Council of Blood," to try all persons who had been engaged in the late

commotions that the rule of Philip had excited. During the ten years it operated, thousandsof people were executed.

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The wedding feast. 1567- 68

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He did often paint peasants as dull witted andsimple people but with humor as well ascompassion.

The scene is set in a humble barn with the toolsand work implements still shown.The fat and silly bride sits in front of her greencloth of honor.

She is a picture of a simple plain woman in her

hour of triumph.

The guests tuck into the free food a child

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licking his bowl clean.

The food is simple porridge or custardcarried on rude planks.

The piper looks longingly at the foodwhich he is not allowed to eat until hiswork is done as only the truly hungrycan do.

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How does he feel about his subject?

Brueghel paints the human condition with an element of satire, although he is notpart of the scene there is a sadness and helplessness about these poor peoplewho have been made dull and stupid by over work and lack of food and comfort.

There is a love for humanity in all its difficulties he does not mock but is gentle inhis humor.

He is conscious of a divine love and care for the downtrodden and forgottenpeople.

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The servant came back and

reported to his master. Thenthe owner of the housebecame angry and orderedhis servant, 'Go out quicklyinto the streets and alleys ofthe town and bring in the

poor, the crippled, the blindand the lame.' 'Sir,' theservant said, 'what youordered has been done, butthere is still room. Then the

master told his servant, 'Go

out to the roads and countrylanes and make them comein, so that my house will befull.

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The Tower of Babel 1563Gen 11:1-9 now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As

men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come,let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, sothat we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the faceof the whole earth.

"But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men werebuilding. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language

they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossiblefor them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will notunderstand each other.

"So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stoppedbuilding the city. That is why it was called Babel-- because there the LORDconfused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scatteredthem over the face of the whole earth.

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It is a medieval city being builtin Flanders

with all the building activity

used in Brueghel's own day.

This is customary for artistsillustrating bible texts but he isobviously making a someobservations about his own

generation.

The tower is shown in itshorrifying complexity the humans

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horrifying complexity the humansdwarfed by the structure. The reference is to an anthill in

which the activity of man isreduced to mindless scurryingabout.

What is seen is the futility ofhuman endeavor and their vainpursuits are doomed to failure.

King Nimrod shown as amedieval king stridesimperiously along the edge withhis subjects humbly bowingbefore him and ironic referenceto the pride and vanity of the

rulers of Brueghel's day.

Brueghel's sympathy with theworking class is seen again intheir submission to the will ofan elitist group.

What was the Reformation?

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What was the Reformation?

This refers to a time beginning inthe early 16th C

The Churches of Northern Europesought autonomy from the controlof the Roman Papacy.

Martin Luther posted a proposal atthe doors of a church in

Wittenberg, Germany to debate thedoctrine and practice ofindulgences.

This is considered the catalyst in

starting the reformation.

The end result after muchbloodshed and destruction waseach nation was permitted to followthe religion of its sovereign.

This portrait is said to be the first artistic

presentation of the young Luther

LucasCranach

This proposal is popularly

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This proposal is popularlyknown as the 95 Theses,which he nailed to theCastle Church doors.

This was not an act ofdefiance or provocation asis sometimes thought.

Since the Castle Church

faced Wittenbergs mainthoroughfare, the churchdoor functioned as a publicbulletin board and wastherefore the logical placefor posting important

notices.

Also, the theses werewritten in Latin, thelanguage of the church, andnot in the vernacular.

Diet of Worms

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This was a general assembly of theestates of the Holy Roman Empire thattook place in Worms, a town on theRhine.

It was conducted from 28 January to25 May 1521, with Emperor Charles Vpresiding. Prince Frederick III, Electorof Saxony, obtained a safe conduct forLuther to and from the meeting.

He refused to renounce his teachingsand was branded a heretic.

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What is the painting Gloomy day about?

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It was painted for a wealthy citizen of Antwerp as a series of painting illustrating theactivities of each month.This painting takes place in the dark cold months of February and March

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1. Describe the various separate scenes in the picture.(8)2. The mountainous landscape3. The distant jagged peaks are a reminder of the capricious power of nature.4. The peaks contrast with the protective peaks of the houses.5. The colours are cold white and blue which contrast with the warm browns and oranges

of the village.6. Comforting wisps of smoke from the village contrast with the clouds above the

mountains.

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The Village1. The small figures once again give the feeling of insects in nature.2. They are part of nature but are threatened by it.

3. Touches of bawdy humour with a man following his own dictates of nature

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Carnival time The peasants are pollarding the willow trees done at this time of year The child has a paper crown A man is eating waffles made at carnival time. This is done at the time of Epiphany and Shrovetide. The lantern is also a carnival device.

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Foundering ships1. This demonstrates the destructive power of nature.2. The ships are man made but are shown as incidental events in a vast powerful and

capricious nature.3. How does the artist feel generally about man and nature? (2)4. Nature is shown as vast and impersonal the sky is dark and threatening,5. Life is precarious and we are powerless before the might of nature.6. Also the shortness of our time and the infinity of nature that has no limitations with

regard to time.

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Hunters the snow1565 (4)

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1. The ant like activities of this time is seen on the figures skating on the ice in thedistance.

2. We are aware of the cold as we see the tired hunters and dogs returning and we lookdown into the vista of activities that take place at this time of year.

3. We see the jagged peaks ominous in the distance but this is a more peaceful scene inwhich the snow unites the elements in a dazzling white canopy.