Art 222
Paper One
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Due February 7, in class.
Agricultural societies develop a calendar of the year that is strongly correlated to the work on the land that is required in each season. Both literary and artistic works reflect this cycle, that both marks time and passes on knowledge. In some societies, religious rituals are closely coordinated with the cycle of nature, and are even thought to influence it. In the Near East, for example, the Sacred Marriage of the Goddess and her consort (Inanna and Demuzi, but known by other names) was reenacted every spring to ensure fertility of the crops.
In Christian agrarian societies, these pagan practices (pagan meaning "of or pertaining to the country") were retained in folk lore, but also came to be reflected in high religion. It is no accident that the ritual of Christ's death and resurrection is celebrated around the time of the Spring equinox, for example. Christ, whose body is bread, might be seen as a grain god who must die to be reborn.
In class we will examine a few of these artistic cycles that depict for each month a "labor" that corresponds to the prominent activity of that time (for example, the Très riches heures of Jean, Duke of Berry). Sometimes these activities are coordinated to the months, sometimes to the zodiac signs, more generally to the seasons. While universal in concept, each cycle is unique in portraying the cycle of labors particular to a specific time and place. In one place they might gather wheat in June, in other places July.
For your first assignment, please create a cycle of the Labors of the Months for a particular place as it might be understood in the year 2001. You may chose any place you like: Meadville, your hometown, or a place for which you can find information.
You must be consistent about choosing one place only. It would not be right to illustrate the year with the activities in your backyard, but then show an image of swimming in the ocean for August because your family goes to Florida for vacation at that time every year.
Your paper should consist of a series of paragraphs describing each Labor of the Month, with a paragraph or so of introduction and conclusion. Think of each paragraph as describing an image of that month's work. If you feel imaginative, you might create-or at least sketch out-some actual works of art, but you are not required to present images. However, in describing your labors in words, consider whether or not your cycle would be a series of sculptures, illustrations on a page, frescoes on a wall, or some other format. Describe what we would see in each image, and how it reflects the general activity of that time period. Given the way we live in modern times, your cycles of the Labors might not show agricultural labor as the work of each month, but try to tie them to the weather and use of land.
Include a formal Bibliography with your paper, including all the works of reference you consulted, if any. Use whatever form of referencing with which you feel comfortable.
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