DIVIDED CULTURE

DIVIDED CULTURE

1. Culture helps people to transmit their values from one generation to the next. Art is an essential means of conveying those values. In a period of divided culture, we might expect the artwork to reflect division about values.  In your essay, consider the role of art as described by Lippman in A Preface to Morality (Week 8 assigned reading).  Then highlight three pieces of art that you think manifest some disagreement regarding moral values.  The works you select should not all be on the same issue!  Be sure to explain the underlying context of each piece as well as the moral values you believe to be at stake.

Art plays a critical role in society as a dispenser of cultural values. It illustrates the prevailing value system and the issues that inspire the painter. This paper aims to demonstrate these issues by examining the role that art has been accorded based on the writings of Lippman in his book “A Preface to Morality.” It will also look at three different pieces of art that illustrate the issue of moral values disagreement.

Lippman describes art as a conveyor of the current values within a society and the sources of inspiration for that generation.[1] Lippman illustrates how different timeframes and the paintings which are produced reflect the values that were prevalent in that generation as well as the particular issues and topics that served as the source of inspiration. Using the Western Museum of art for illustration, Lippman shows how the subject of art has changed over the centuries as the sources of inspiration for painters have changed. He shows how the final chapter fifteenth century marked the end of religion as a source of inspiration with such themes as salvation, reign of the heavenly king.  Art is, therefore, is portrayed as a reflection of cultural values

Changes in people’s religious beliefs, reformation emergence of cities, capitalization as well as modern science have changed the expression of art. Painters, therefore, strive to reflect the pursuit of man as they seek to find an organizing principle that was initially provided by religion.

In the past, the church played a critical role in informing the moral values of people. It influenced how business was done, family, and even artist expression in the art form. Lippman shows how guidelines from the second council on Nicaea limited the expression of the artists. It specified that although the artist’s work belonged to the artists, their expression of the substances they represented should be to be based on the principles set forth by the Catholic Church.[2] Further, the council directed that images that promoted erroneous and misleading doctrines, impurity, provocation, and unusual were forbidden.[3]  However, these facets have changed over the years as the subject of inspiration changed together with the values. There have also been disagreements in moral values embodied in different works of art over the centuries.

These disagreements rose as early as the sixteenth century with the work of celebrated artist Michelangelo. His painting referred to as “The Last Judgment,” drew a lot of controversies, which is still debated to the present. In this work, the artist sought to depict Christ’s second coming. However, he deviated from the values set forth by the council of Nicaea and painted approximately 300 hundred figures in the nude[4]. These were provocative images and a source of offense depicting disagreement in values.

Another example is the painting of “St. Matthew and the Angel” by Caravaggio, a renowned Baroque painter in 1602. This work represented disagreement in moral values since it deviated from the set religious tradition and conventions of depicting the apostles. The artist painted the saint as a poor peasant with dirty feet, implying illiteracy.

“The Gross Clinic,” which is a work of art by Thomas Eakins, 1875, also represented a disagreement in morals. The painting, which adopted a realist style and showcased a surgery in progress, was castigated for being too graphic.

In conclusion, art plays a critical role in society as a dispenser of cultural values. However, it is also a conveyor of the disagreement regarding moral values that exist within society.

[1] Lippman, Walter  A Preface to Morality, The Macmillan  Company, New York 94

[2] Lippman, Walter  A Preface to Morality, The Macmillan  Company, New York 98

[3] Lippman, 99

[4] Corcoran,    Heather 10 Works of Art That Made People Really Mad; These controversial artworks shocked the world. Available at https://www.history.com/news/most-controversial-art-in-history