This is what is so intriguing about art.

There sits a thick liquid of color on a paintbrush, or a freshly sharpened pencil, waiting to become something beautiful, waiting to become something unique, waiting to become art. Some could agree that a painting with a bright orange line across a white canvas is a brilliant painting, while others disagree. Some think that only the "great masters" of the art world, who captured the essence of human nature, could be considered to have the potential to create true art. Critics are an integral part of the art world, as masters of what is correct in art or what is labeled as "good" art. When looking at the art from the 15th through the 20th century, one can see significant differences when comparing works, but is it morally correct to say that one century of art is better then the next? In the game of the art world there should be no comparisons as to who is the "better artist", who possesses the "greater skill." Nor should society put labels of varying degrees on art, or set some measure of whether art enhances the viewer's life. Are Water Lilies, paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet, more significant than A Tree by an average first-grader?

There have been consistent attempts to classify art since the development of art history as a discipline during the 19th century. What arose from these definitions over time was an array of movements and theories that came about during the centuries, from the time of cave paintings, to the present day. Each "...ism," each "...ist," each "...istic" of the art world, has added a meaning or at least an interpretation of art through time.

Some centuries might have brought about one or two movements that classified their definition of art while others took movements to the extreme, creating and shaping new stylistic features to characterize the many movements that had been formed. These transitions could have been brought on by historical events happening at that time, they could have been based strictly on religious beliefs, what was considered "in" or "mainstream," sources of patronage of the arts, or in response to motivations of dominant individuals.

Each century of artists lay the stepping stones that affect artist after artist. Like the branches of The Tree by the first-grader, the many movements have stemmed off of one another creating the next image or the next medium to use. Many of the movements have been carried through from century to century with only slight variations or no variations at all. For example, the theories of humanism were started in the 15th century, yet continue in the minds of many artists and philosophers today. Yet, other movements have been lost or reside only in a particular century, but still are respected and labeled as an art form, such as the manuscripts of medieval times. The 15th through 20th centuries witnessed births and triumphs of artistic movements and styles that have created what we revere as Art today in the 21st century.

Reflecting back on the 15th through 20th centuries, similarities and differences can arise about what was considered and what we now term to be Art. Although many works have been lost or interest in them has diminished, there are still artists who are revered from century to century. Most of us will never see the beginning and end of one century. When art is considered, those sum six hundred years of art have molded and shaped our world, giving us a unique view of the past. Yet, how a given work of art was viewed then, and how it is viewed now, are different.

Taking the 16th century work, Adoration of the Magi (1513), by Dutch artist Lucas Van Leyden (1494-1533), one can see considerable differences in the way this piece may have been viewed in the past and how it is viewed now. The piece displays the Christ child, Mary, Joseph, and the Magi, along with many other onlookers. When the piece, Adoration of the Magi, was completed, it encompassed many of the values and thoughts for the society of the 16th century both in the North and the South. In the 15th and 16th, centuries Renaissance thinkers believed in a world that no man had ever seen before, including the unexplored lands and unknown philosophical and theological questions, in man's relationship with nature, as well as a deep interest in the past, seen through the subject of the Christ child and the Magi.

The cultural ideal of perfection led to artistic developments, such as the use of perspective to create an illusion of physical reality marked by the anatomically correct but idealized figures and deep perspective in the piece. In contrast, during the Middle Ages, the relative scale of objects in the world could be freely altered to demonstrate a "truth." For example, human beings were shown in very different sizes to effectively illustrate that one was more important then the other. The Renaissance did not permit such violations of the relative scale of objects. During the Middle Ages, the Christ child, Mary and the Magi would have been larger, elevated figures. During the Renaissance they are the same size as the anonymous onlookers.

From Italy, the Renaissance spread North to all parts of Europe, including the areas where Lucas Van Leyden worked, aided by the invention of printing, which allowed literacy and the availability of texts to grow explosively (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, http://www.eb.co.uk). A new interest sparked the return of ancient Christian values and a continued Gothic interest, as seen in Van Leyden's Biblical event of the adoration. In reviving this Christian story, Van Leyden incorporates art within art- in this case theater within a print. He dramatized his work through the use of theatrical costumes, poses, figural types, and facial expressions. The characters are placed in a stage-like setting with the Holy Family on the left, and the admirers flowing from the back towards the Magi and the Holy Family. This gives the viewer a more intimate view into a narrative scene, as if we were part of the procession of onlookers. Van Leyden uses a soft and silvery approach in his engravings, characteristic of the first glimmers of Northern Baroque art in the later 17th Century.

In the 21st century, Renaissance values are respected but not practiced, placing the piece, The Adoration of the Magi, firmly in the past. Incorporation of old art in museums or art exhibits again delves into the history and beauty of the art as opposed to the 16th century view of religious connotation. Now, the specific details of the piece are considered, placing the piece as an individual work of the Renaissance, and not one that merely displayed the characteristics of the time. The piece is not revered as a religious piece, but as a work of art to be admired for its beauty, and interpreted as a work of history.

From the 15th through 20th centuries, from the Renaissance, to the Baroque, the Romantics, to the Realists, each movement had a time to be looked upon as the most important artistic and philosophical idea of its time. Yet, they were still studied with reverence, as the centuries went on. They continued to be instilled and absorbed into the building blocks of history. Without these movements, characteristics of history would not have been formed, and the progression of time would cease to exist because the ability to create, to dream and to invent would not have been heard of. These artists, who were philosophers in their own sense, trapped time into their work, giving ideas free reign and even producing history in their own sense. Some believe that art has the potential to improve moral standards. To say that a work of art is aesthetically good, or has aesthetic value is one thing, but to say that it is morally good, or has a capacity to influence people so as to make them morally better, is another.

The 15th century brought about the philosophy known as humanism, which has developed with several significant features. First, it put human nature and human achievements at the center of its study. Second, it stressed the unity and compatibility of the truth found in all philosophical and theological schools and systems. Third, it emphasized the dignity of man. The humanists valued the human struggle to create and the attempt to exert mastery over nature. Finally, the humanists assisted in the consolidation of a new spiritual and intellectual outlook and in the development of a new body of knowledge. This has survived from the beginnings of the 15th century to the 20th century. (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, http://www.eb.co.uk).

The effect of humanism was to help men break free from the mental strictures imposed by religious orthodoxy, to inspire free inquiry and criticism, and to inspire a new confidence in the possibilities of human thought and creations. Humanist ideas have been with us since the 15th century, shaping nations and laws, shaping literature, music, theater, dance, shaping art. Throughout each century, this acquired sense of power and beauty, through art and humanism, has led to other movements that have either stemmed from these views or broken away, disagreeing with the thoughts and forming new entities of art.

As one walks through a museum of art, the language of art (art forms, styles and movements) can be similar even though the bodies (the works of art) may look different. This is what classifies art in a liquid of folds and movements, both through a brush stroke and through the mind. Museums are almost like our new Churches, fulfilling the need for sensual, intellectual and spiritual stimulation through art. The French philosophes" such as Voltaire, (1648-1778) and Diderot, (1713-1784) believed man to be a natural creature who was motivated by the desire to accumulate wealth, protect life, and pursue happiness, and otherwise to strive for perfectibility. These philosophers would describe life as a set of laws, morals, and traditions whose purpose was to, "insure liberty, protect personal property, and encourage individual happiness...to serve the public good" (Roberts5-3). The context of preserving art forms in museums can be seen as the same attainable goals these French philosophers were pondering. The protection and preservation of the past is a reminder of the constant changes and contortions that history has gone through. By protecting the individual art works, movements of the past are protected. Through preservation, ideas or branches of the ideas are contained within art objects and preserved and available to generations, which will shape history in the future.

Robert, Thomas E. The Western Civilization Handbook. Littleton, CO. 1972.

www.eb.co.uk:180/bol/topic?eu=64768&sctn=1#s_top

www.eb.co.uk:180/