Introduction
Background of the study
Baroque and Renaissance are two different periods that took place in Europe and began at different times. Renaissance refers to the period when many political, social, scientific, and art old ideas in Europe were reformed and many new ones formed (Bukofzer, 2008, p. 9). This was between the 14th and 16th centuries. This period brought a lot of changes in Europe due to new explorations. Some of these changes include intellectual development and boosting of the economy which led to new developments in art and literature. On the other hand, the Baroque period was between 1600 and 1750. This is an interesting period as it began with the birth of the opera deaths of Bach and Handel marked its end. This period began immediately after the end of the Renaissance period (Bukofzer, 2008, p.11).
For many years (about twenty-four years now), Cultural Anthropologists like me and others have been searching for time capsules that were hidden from the two periods discussed above. Our search in the last two years was not in vain as we have discovered some capsules. Each of the capsules contains information that helps one to understand the past cultures together with their origins. In addition, the capsules contain information that was needed in the development of the Baroque era Bukofzer, 2008, p.5). During the search, I have really thought about what is hidden in these capsules. There are some rumors that artifacts from the two eras lie within these capsules. Some of these artifacts include music, art, philosophy architecture and literature. In this paper, I am going to discuss some of these capsules and unlock the items locked in each of these capsules. Moreover, I will show how each of my examples reflects world events and cultural patterns of the time.
Time capsules and examples of items locked in these capsules
In my search, one of the time capsules that I came across is what is now referred to as Cap A. In this time capsule, I have discovered two pieces of art locked inside this capsule. The first one is Mona Lisa that was created by Leonard Da Vinci in the year 1503. In creating this art; he used sfumato and perspective styles. The second one is a portrait referred to as “The Last Supper.” Where Leonard gave a visual interpretation of what happened before Christ’s betrayal. In addition, another artifact locked in this capsule is architecture from various regions of Europe. This was clearly indicated by the presence of many photos (Mouzon, Henderson & Duany, 2004, p.6).
As I continued with my search, I realized that some other items were found in the early Renaissance time capsule. These items included music, art; architecture and philosophy. Moreover, Literature and architecture were found in the Baroque time capsule (Bukofzer, 2008, p.16).
Art refers to the process by which one arranges elements so as to affect people’s emotions. It also refers to the product of arranging these elements. Art as one of my examples of items locked in the time capsule reflects the world and cultural patterns in different ways. For instance, a sculpture made by Michelangelo for instance the David sculpture represented the beliefs about beauty during the Renaissance period (Deleuze & Guattari, 1994, p.117). In addition, the history of the church is indicated in art by the use of paintings and sculptures. Art indicates world patterns by using different signs. For example, in places where there are people, carvings, decorated artifacts, and standing stones are used. In addition, art indicated the themes of religious groups. The art that was used by Catholics for their campaigns was both appealing to the sight and the feeling of the people and had to be doctrinally correct.
Music is also a form of art where the artisans communicate through sound. During the Baroque period, the composers and performers developed new instrumentation techniques. Music as artifacts is able to reflect the world and cultural patterns through the use of songs and musical instruments. For example, the type of musical instruments used reflects the economic position of the country. In terms of culture, music involves the use of ornaments and this indicates the aesthetic value of the people. In addition, music used polyphony and counterpoint. The songs that were composed during these periods depended on the world patterns of the country and the language used was according to the acceptable norms of the people (Bukofzer, 2008, p.16).
Architectural design and patterns show the culture of the people in different ways. It is important however that the architectural pattern should be understood by everyone in the particular nation (Mouzon et al., 2004, p.6). The architecture reflects the culture in several ways. For example, a good building like a funny tree is able to tell us our relationships with our ancestors and our predecessors. A good architectural design also communicates to us what the building is used for and how we can use it. For instance, we are able to know that a certain building is a hospital, a post office, a school, or even a police station and when we check the buildings we are able to know what takes place in certain buildings. During the early Renaissance, architectural designs used were to celebrate Roman Catholic Church (Bukofzer, 2008, p.12). The world pattern was reflected by the type of buildings that were built. For instance, there was a need for ventilation and due to the presence of floods the houses were built raised on high grounds.
Philosophy is a wide discipline that has so many definitions. It means a love of wisdom, or beliefs that are accepted by certain groups of people and also means the search for the solutions to the different problems that people are faced with (Deleuze & Guattari, 1994, p.15). The level of technology and the methods used by people in solving the problems showed their culture. Literature used during Renaissance and Baroque periods reflected culture in that it showed the values held strongly by the community. In addition, the language used in different literature materials also showed the accepted norms of society. The world patterns were clearly indicated in the literature work by composing different poems about the world.
Conclusion
In this paper, I have discussed the time-hidden capsules during the two periods that occurred in Europe. That is Renaissance and Baroque periods. I have also identified the items that were found in each of these capsules. These items include Music, Art, Philosophy, Literature, and Architecture. I have also discussed how each of these items reflected the World and Cultural patterns.
Reference List
- Bukofzer, M. F. (2008). Music in the Baroque era- from Monteverdi to Bach. Berkeley, California: IMG. Web.
- Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. (1994). What is philosophy? London: Columbia University Press. Web.
- Mouzon, S.A., Henderson, S. M. & Duany, M. A. (2004). Traditional construction patterns: design & detail rules of the thumb. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies. Web.