Art, It is What It is...Nothing else.

 Art, It is What It is...Nothing else.

            Art of course comes in various ways, whether if it was food, painting, or architecture. In our last seminar, art was the discussion. Out of all of the topics discussed, the one that most intrigued me was the architecture of The Coliseum. Coliseum wasn't just the most famous, but it was also free to get into. Back then many would go and enter the Coliseum to be entertained by fights as if it was a wrestling match.

             It all started out by Vespian, Titus, and Domitian, emperors who wanted it built. 72 - 80 AD battles were being held between animals and gladiators. 50,000 people would attend, but of course around that time there was class. People were ranked by their wealth, either upper class (rich class) or lower class (poor class). Since everyone was accepted they separated the seats. There were marble seats for the upper class, close to the fighting ring and wooden seats for the lower class, farther away from the ring.

             The architectural art is what I was amazed at. It was built by slaves, creating arches and vaults. The arches were framed in sequence of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns. They created tunnels underneath the wooden floors, after all the hard work of building it they painted it in many distinctive colors. My main focus was after the population decreased. Everyone was basically gone in Rome and was vulnerable for being conquered. People tried to survive. One of the ways of surviving was gaining money to get the necessities. Unfortunately survivors of the plague was digging into the Coliseum to gain metals that could be sold. Currently the Coliseum is partially standing and one of the causes was the survivors of the plague.

        Not only was I intrigued by the Coliseum, but also the Baroque movement. The movement reflected religious tensions of the age. though mainly it was catholic people were into, it still consisted of Jesus Christ. The Catholic church was made to glorify their own divine grandeur and strengthen their political position, but to influence people there was art. Designs, mosaics, frescoes, and paintings were always apart of churches. Either it was on the floor, ceilings, windows or just on the walls. Because it was around the renaissance time period everyone was influenced by art work and so art was the best way to influence their religion. Many famous art was in the form of religious art like Michelangelo's Pieta.

           I enjoyed the seminar and it made my knowledge way more broad. Just to think that this is just the beginning of one of the 3 hour walks I plan to have in the future. Full of new interesting things and new experiences. I mainly enjoyed the lesson on the Coliseum over the Baroque movement. The most exciting part of the seminar to me was the Coliseum and I want to learn more than just of what I already seen on the Internet. I want to see the view for myself, my own eyes. I want to be able to feel the structure, and touch the diggings of the architecture. I want to be amazed and mind freaked.

- Meryssa Mayshack