art – Page 4 – Temple Study

Excellent Panoramas of Temple Square

October 28, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments

Temple Square Panoramas

I’ve featured 360° panoramas of Temple Square before, those created by Dr. William Hamblin, but a few more can’t hurt. And these ones are very good indeed.

Created by Martin van Hemert Photography, Inc., at Utah3D.net, these full-screen panoramas include 360° images of the plaza, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, the North-West corner of the temple, the Christus statue, and Christmas lights at Temple Square (between the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall). The color and lighting are exquisite in these! And it gives the perception of standing on the spot. Very well done.

To navigate the panoramas, click on the image of the panorama you want to view, allow the image to load, and then click and drag on the image to look around in any direction. You can zoom in/out with the left shift and CTRL keys, or the scroll wheel on your mouse.

And while you’re at it, check out the other Utah panoramas they’ve done.

Utah3D.net 360° Panoramas of Temple Square

[via Mormon Times via LDS Media Talk]

The Traditional Greek Folk Dances and their Ancient Roots

September 8, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 11 Comments

San Joaquin Delta College Hellenic Dancers doing the Greek Syrtos dance at the school's new campus dedication in 1977. They wear the traditional Greek folk dance costume. A musician is playing a Thracian gaida in the center of the circle, leading the dance. Used with permission.

When I originally wrote my paper on “The Genesis of the Round Dance,” I included a short section on the ancient Greek dance forms:

The ancient choruses, dances, and songs of the dithyramb of Greece displayed the familiar pattern of a dignified, circular dance around the altar of Dionysus in the theater’s orchestra. In fact, the term orchestra originally meant the circular dancing place of the theater. In addition, the terms carole and chorus, also originally Greek, meant a sacred ring dance, men and women holding each others hands [other related English words are chorale, choir, and choreography]. LDS scholar, Dr. Hugh Nibley, reminds us that the creation was often acted out in these Greek dance dramas:

The Greek play has a chorus. Well what does chorus mean? It’s a ring dance; it’s a circle. Same as our word curve; Latin: curvus; going around. The chorus sings, and the chorus of the muses sings the poiema, the creation song . . . When they sing together, it’s the poiema, the song of the creation. It’s a glorious thing. It’s a round dance like the Egyptian maypole.

Nibley takes it one step further to explain that all the arts originated from the ancient temple dramas. “So poetry, music, and dance,” he tells us, “go out to the world from the temple-called by the Greeks the Mouseion, the shrine of the Muses.” Again he states that, “All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth-they all go back to the temple.” Kraus supports this claim of a ritualistic connection between the arts when he informs us that Native American ceremonies and sacred dances are “part of an elaborate drama which embraces all the arts.” ((http://www.templestudy.com/2008/02/01/the-genesis-of-the-round-dance-part-3/))

The more one learns about the arts, the more one is convinced of Nibley’s stunning summation.

I want to expand a bit more on the traditional Greek dance forms, and share some more interesting details I’ve learned about these ancient practices that still are continued today. [Read more…]

Freedom’s Gate: U.S. Capitol as a Temple

September 3, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 7 Comments

Book Cover

Some of you may remember I wrote about The Apotheosis of Washington painting in the U.S. Capitol. A friend just informed me that someone has published an ebook that investigates the U.S. Capitol as a type of temple, including this painting, and many other interesting details. It is called Freedom’s Gate: The Lost Symbols in the U.S. Capitol, by William Henry and Dr. Mark Gray.

Here are some of his main points: ((http://williamhenry.net/freedomsgate.html))

The Dome of the U.S. Capitol is a mirror image of the Vatican Dome and was thought of as a recreation of Solomon’s Temple by its builders.
The art of the interior corridors of the Capitol mirrors Vatican art.
Higher Wisdom flows through the Capitol’s spiritual imagery and artwork.
The bell-shaped Capitol Dome is a stupa that creates a vortex or field of energy that extends into the world.
The Freemasons who built the Capitol viewed it as a ‘beehive’ buzzing with energy.
Literally, we can alter this energy field by visiting the Capitol Dome and praying or meditating inside. This will raise the frequency of the Dome and the Capitol, helping to clear out negative or harmful energies.
This is the great secret of the Founding Fathers. They left us a bell to ring in times of distress. Let Freedom’s Ring!

Reading up about the author, William Henry, shows he believes in some interesting New-Age metaphysics, with stargates and wormholes among other things. I’m not so sure about all of that, but this book might still include some interesting insights about the U.S. Capitol being a type of temple to the Founding Fathers. Thanks Jennifer!

Has anyone read this book? What are your thoughts about it? Please share your impressions in the comments.

The Apotheosis of Washington

June 27, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 8 Comments

The Apotheosis of Washington (detail), Constantino Brumidi, 1865, United States Capitol Building rotunda.

I watched an interesting show last night, Secret America on Discovery, and learned some interesting things. One of them was that there is a large fresco painted on the inside of the dome of the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building. It is called “The Apotheosis of Washington” and was painted by an Italian Painter, Constantino Brumidi, in 1865 for the sum of $40,000.

What is interesting is what was painted in this profound location. [Read more…]

The Creation, God Introducing Adam and Eve – An Illustration by Jean Fouquet

April 18, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 20 Comments

Ms Fr 247 f.3 The Creation, God Introducing Adam and Eve, from 'Antiquites Judaiques', c.1470-76, Jean Fouquet, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France

Every once and a while I’ll come upon an antiquarian painting, print, fresco, sculpture or other art piece that peaks my interest. This is one of them.

This is an illustration by Jean Fouquet from a french translation manuscript of Josephus‘ Jewish Antiquities. It is entitled, “The Creation, God Introducing Adam and Eve,” and dates to 1470-76 C.E. Currently it is maintained at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, France.

There are several things that are interesting about this illustration:

God is portrayed in the center, joining the right hands of Adam and Eve in a sacred handclasp, likely the dextrarum iunctio, a symbol of the eternal marriage of the two.
Angels on both sides of the group seem to clothe Adam and Eve in the sacred garments worn by God.
The Garden of Eden is symbolized as a walled city/fortress, with the rivers beginning at a fountain and exiting through the walls.
Since this is also representative of the Creation, we note God and his angels at the top holding the instruments or tools of creation, including God holding a compass and one of the angels a square. (See Isa. 44:13)
Is God represented here twice, or are there 2 Gods?
God is depicted as a man, in both cases.

You can see a similar representation in a 16th century sculpture called The Garden of Eden or Love.

Anything else interesting that you see in this illustration? Does anyone know anything else about this particular work, or similar ones?

Update (4/20/09): I found a scan of the entire page from a book entitled “Jehan Foucquet, native of Tours” by Trenchard Cox (page 88). You can see the full page image here. It is interesting to note that in this book the title of the illustration is “The Marriage of Adam and Eve.”

Update (4/20/09): I found another very similar illumination from the same time period. This one is entitled “The Marriage of Adam and Eve” from “Des Proprietes De Chozes” by Jean Corbechon around 1415 C.E. You can see very similar symbolism here.

The marriage of Adam and Eve, from 'Des Proprietes De Chozes' by Jean Corbechon, c.1415.

Update (4/20/09): Here is a detail of an engraving by Jean Duvet cerca 1540-1555 which depicts the same – “The Marriage of Adam and Eve.” You can see the full engraving here.

Detail from engraving "The Marriage of Adam and Eve" by Jean Duvet, cerca 1540-1555.