Giotto Di Bondone

Between 70 CE and 1500 CE, Christians and Muslims changed in their opinion of merchants, but stayed the same in their view of equitable transactions between people. Matthew, in the New Testament, records Jesus commenting on how hard it is for rich people to have their hearts in the right place, but he doesn't condemn the people for having money [D1]. Christians didn't specifically revile merchants specifically at this point in 70 CE. The "honest, truthful Muslim merchant" was praised for his reputable work, even being compared to martyrs in the Qur'an [D2]. As time went on, educated Christian and Muslim scholars began to voice why they both believed

Cimabue, Madonna and Child with Angels and Prophets (ca. 1280-1290), 12’ 7” X 7’ 4”.

both artwork of giotto’s and duccio’s the entry into Jerusalem, have the similar concept depicting Christ arrival of the scene. With the same position and direction that he’s facing and the crowd are the same spot as well. Including the person who is in front of him leaving a carpet to walk on with his donkey. For the hand gesture of him raising his right hand to greet civilian for his welcome, which is another similar touch from each other. A little different between both art, is the background spot is giotto’s part had Christ entering the city, and duccio’s part having him to already in the city as it looks from the whole view of the artwork. For giotto’s way, he made the setting of his image and wants to the events very close to viewers.

I agree with you, Erin. The fundamental aspect of man that makes him marvelous, according to Pico, is that he is essentially free to choose his own destiny. I loved the question Pico posed: “Why, I asked, should we not admire the angels themselves and the beatific choirs more” (28)? After all, what makes man more marvelous than the angels they themselves praise? Following this, Pico made an important distinction between mankind and both the creatures that dwell in Heaven and on Earth: “The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted within laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature” (29). Here, we see that through personal thought, decisions and actions, man can, as Erin has quoted, descend to a lower form of life or ascend to a divine life (29). According to Pico, not even the highly-regarded angels posses this free-will. Therefore, now we begin to understand that it is not a matter of hierarchical rank that makes man marvelous, yet the unique ability humans have has to shape their life. This is why there is nothing more marvelous than man.

The great thing about art, is that there are multiple portrayals of one idea but, the artist’s own personal style allows one to feel something that another may not. Early Renaissance painters, Giotto di Bondone and Duccio di Buoninsegna established their own unique style to depict a biblical scene known as, The Betrayal of Christ. Through a close analysis of each artist’s representation of, The Betrayal of Christ, one is able to compare and contrast the artists own understanding of the scene through their attention to detail, character, and space throughout the painting. When examining these two works, one will have a stronger emotional response towards Giotto’s interpretation rather Duccio’s, due to his methods of handling organization, figures, and space.

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

“The grandeur of the ancient city is evident in the remains uncovered by archaeologists, including the ruins of the Artemision, the civic agora, the temple of Domitian, gymnasiums, public baths, a theater with seating for 24,000, a library, and the commercial agora, as well as several streets and private residences” (Holman, np). This was a big city, full of culture, and full of ungodly people and activities. Among the many religious groups in the city, there were many Jews there who were brought the gospel right after Pentecost (Orr, np). Because of the pluralism of religions in the city, new Christians didn’t know exactly what to believe or how to worship. On top of this, the city was constantly bombarded with false teachers trying to tell people that salvation came from works, not faith (MacArthur, np).

As for Jesus Gris he was not originally afflicted by the idea of being lower class once presented with the opportunity to gain affluence he does not hesitate to accept it. In turn he neglects to think about the conflicts and consequences that may come with it. The consumer (Jesus) eventually became dependent on the Cronos device (the commodity). This shows how interdependent the market is with the consumer and the commodity. One can not exist with out the other once one has fallen to dependency. The violence that can ensue when it comes to consumerism and the market is depicted between Jesus and Dieter de la Guardia. One man from the lower class and the other from the elites both fight over control for the commodity and who should be able to reap its benefits. At de La Gurdias warehouse we are shown statues of the Virgin Mary hanging from the ceiling like pieces of meat. This shows how consumeristic violence can begin to over shadow even the most important moral aspects of human existence. The idea that statues were just failed attempts at attaining the Cronos show just how neglected religion has become in a consumerism society. Class conflict can also be seen in the types of cars people drive, Jesus whose car is pushed of a ledge was an older model while Angel de La Gurdias car is much nicer. The idea that capitalism is a criticism on the poor can be seen the way Dieter thinks Jesus is unworthy of controlling the

The tale of the Wandering Jew is an interesting myth that originates during the 13th century. On a surface level, it is an entertaining myth with roots back to early Christianity. However neat the story is; there are illogical inconsistencies within the myth, and the Wandering Jew falls victim to the “one of us/ one of them” fallacy and the fallacy of Division, leaving us with a depiction of the views 13th century Christians held, and how they portrayed them. The myth begins as Jesus Christ is carrying the cross he is to be crucified upon, Jesus stumbles under the weight of the cross in front of a Jewish shoemaker, the shoemaker harasses Jesus, telling him to hurry up and get on with it; it is here when the Jew is cursed to wander the

So subsequent to seeing all dealers, Jesus at that point drove them hard and fast of the sanctuary, with the sheep and the bulls. He scattered the coins of the cash changers and upset their tables. To the individuals who sold the pigeons he stated, "Remove these things from here! Try not to make my Dad's home a commercial center!"

Herod’s reign, along with Philip, Archelaus, and Antipas, was spent both by infuriating and placating, offending and appeasing the Jews. He built walls, the temple, and much in the city of Jerusalem to appease the people but at the same time offended the orthodox Jews who bitterly hated his Greek taste and his transgressions of the Mosaic law. He had the temple priests sacrifice on behalf of the Roman Government and on the other hand taxed the people at somewhere between eight point six per cent and ten point seven, an incredibly high rate for that day

The Tomba di Giulietta (Juliet’s Tomb) is misleading and seems like someone trying to make a profit off something fictional. In the world we live in today people will do virtually anything to make a quick buck. Directors base stories and movies for example, off something that happened a long time ago and completely twist what had actually happened. Addressing the “coincidental” similarities between the myth and Shakespeare's drama, is how would Shakespeare's drama not be based off Thisbe and Pyramus, if both are strikingly the same in every way. Interesting thing to note is that Mercutio mentions her name (Thisbe) in Act 2, scene 4, page 2. Which could just be a complete coincidence, but it's just unusual to hear him say Thisbe’s name.

Caravaggio was an Italian painter born in Milan around 1571. He is considered one of the fathers of the modern painting. His father was called Fermo Merisi, who was an architect decorator and a household administrator. His mother was called Lucia Aratori and she came from one of the Propertified families in the region. In 1576, the family relocated to Caravaggio to escape the plague that devastated Milan. His father died in 1577 and the mother died in 1584 (Frank, 2013, p. 292). Caravaggio remained an orphan at 11 years of age and he was apprenticed in Milan. When he later went to Rome, his work became accepted due to the technique of tenebrism he used which involved the use of shadow for

The spirit of greed that characterized the time period drove even a monk to manipulate his parishioners for personal profit. In the 1st day 2nd story tale of the Jew who goes to Rome and observes how the clergy were acting, the Jew finds that

We can see that the whole church was guilty of greed and took advantage of people. The church forced the commoners to attend weekly services. When attending these services the speakers would threaten peasants into believing they would experience horrible things in hell if they stopped donating and volunteering for the church. Priest would preach that failing to donate a weekly sum would mean your soul was going to hell. (Trueman) This intimidated peasants into giving the church most of what they had , even if that meant they were going to starve that day. The authority of the church had these commoners do anything they wanted, including making them donate money , seeds, or grain. The amount of greed the church had was unbelievable, they would store the donated grain in warehouses and just keep it there without use. Rats would end up eating most of it or poisoning it with their urine, making the grain inedible or worthless.