Apprenticeship & Workshops in the Renaissance

Here's a website I found about the society in medieval times:
http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/medievalsoc.html

It talks about the classes of the society of Middle Ages. There are priests, knights and small laborers. Then it describes the life of a child who goes to work and learn under a master by contract and aquires a technique to become a master in a town. In order to increase the level, some of the towns were even critical about the citizens dwelling in it. One must be a ruputable man or a master with great technique to live in the fussy towns. In that way, some people worked under other masters in their whole life. The life style of Renaissance was really interesting.

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Here's a good website about an artist's life:
http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/artistslife.html

The website talks about how an artist work from an apprentice to a master. Every single artist, no matter the famous or the nameless ones, has to work as a humble apprentice at first. Some of the talented apprentices can become greater and more reputed artists than their masters. The website also compares the artists of Renaissance, who worked for patrons, and today, who work with much freedom.

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The old apprenticeship-and-master frame is very different than the education system in Taiwan nowadays.

In old days, kids around twelve left their family and followed a master. The apprntices lived with the master, and they worked hard and learned through working. The apprentices had learned to be independent since they were teenagers. They strived hard to learn to assist their masters, and also learned to master the technique. When they grew up, they might leave their teachers and became a greater master. Then they took in apprentices and taught them all the technique he possessed and hoped them to improve. The impartation for generations made the technique constantly prograssed.

Comparing now, we've learned in schools since we were around seven years old. Everyone has the right and the duty to go to school. We get together and learn together, and we learn how to get along with others at the meanwhile. Nonetheless, we don't apply what we learn at school until we graduate from junior high school or even college. And usually, most of us are forced to study at school, not learning what we are really interested in. Maybe I'm too young and lacking of scope to estimate that, but I dislike the system right now. I know I would have to work much harder than now if I was an apprentice in medieval times, but I really hope to go with a good master and learn something freely and earnestly.

Renaissance Florence

Here is a website about Michelangelo Buonarroti:
http://www.all-art.org/early_renaissance/michelangelo1.html

Michelangelo was a famous italian artist, sculptor and architect in 15th and 16th century of Renaissance. He was also considered as the most important artist ever lived. He did many great art works in Florence.

Michelangelo's father was an office, but he didn't want to . He chose to be an artist and became an apprentice in a painting school when he was 13 after graduating from school. Michelangelo learned a lot in the art school, and he even stayed in the academy of Plato and learned with older poets and scholars for a little time. After studying art for three years, he started to create some art works. He showed his talent on art and became famous. Then he was commissioned by church and popes to do many things, like painting the ceiling of chapels, sculpting statues and the tombs of the Medicis in the Medici Chapel.

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The Doni Tondo

by Machelangelo (1503 - 1504)

This is one of the few paintings Michelangelo did on easels. We can clearly see Michelangelo's unique style in the painting. He drew the outlines of people sharply and added a lot of light and shadow on them, separating them from the background. They don't look like real people. Instead, I think they are more alike to sculptures in the picture. Furthermore, we can claerly see the muscles on Mary's arms. She is lifting the baby Jesus on her shoulder, showing her muscles. We can see that Michelangelo liked to draw female models as women. Rather than mixing a variety of colors, it seems that Michelangelo liked to depict the beauty of human in his art works.

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David

by Machelangelo (1504)

This the most famous sculpture made by Michelangelo. It is about the young hero, David, who defeated Goliath the giant Philistine. He is holding a band which can throw stones, ready to fight the formidable giant. He stands confidently and faces his foe sideways. His muscles tense, and the veins in his hands are obviously exposed. He is the boy who stands out to fight for his nation, but he looks like a strong and mature man.

Michelangelo kept David completely nude, showing the beauty of men thoroughly. He not only looks handsome and strong, but also expresses the strength and the faith of a man.

This is the detail of David's face. He looks earnest but confident, concentrated upon a distant place. His regular features show his anger and his bravery. He is staring fiercely at his opponent, not having any fear. He focuses on the adversary, with a stone prepared in his hand, ready to land a deadly hit on him.

Painting of Siena

Here is a website I found about Duccio di Buoninsegna:
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/d/duccio/buoninse/biograph.html

Duccio was a greatest artist of Siena of Renaissance before Giotto. Duccio's artworks are full of the style of traditional Byzantine. His paintings are less-colored and plain, emphasizing the solemnity and sanctity of God, not the true emotions of humanity. The characters in Ducci's painting are not as lifelike as in Giotto's, but both of their paintings are religious. In Duccio's paintings, the Virgin Mary and Jesus look vague and dreamlike, making people feel a sense of mystery.
Duccio had some problems in his life. He encountered political offense, problems of debts, and accusation of refusing military service. He was considered as an important changer of art because he instilled a new feeling of humanity.

Crucifixion

by Duccio (1308 - 1311)

This painting is about Jesus Christ's heavy penalty of crucifixion. Jesus is crucified in the middle, resigned of the pain. He spread an atmosphere of holiness and dignity. A row of angels are flying above him, as if they're welcoming Him to the heaven. On Jesus' both sides are two crucified criminals. They look very dark and sinful, contrasting sharply between the golden background.

On the left of the painting are the disciples and the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary lifts up her eyes to her son, almost can't stand. The disciples stand around her and look at Jesus respectfully, frightened of what their teacher has suffered. They stand calmly, grieving for His critical injury and enormous pain. On the other side of Jesus stands the headsman and a crowd of people who inflict injury on Jesus. They are shouting and discussing agitatedly, look perturbed and afraid.

The harsh contrast between the two sides of the people make the image intense and full of movements. It causes a fervent feeling surging in the audience.

Giotto di Bondone

Here is a website I found about Giotto the famous artist in early Renaissance:
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-masters/giotto.htm

Giotto followed Cimabue as an apprentice when he was only 12 years old. Giotto did many frescos about the life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Soon he became famous for the expressions of people's emotions in his paintings, and he even surpassed his teacher. Giotto became very famous and rich just when he was in his middle age, and he managed many workshops in Italy. Many influential and rich people commissioned him to paint for them. Giotto's most important deed was that he created a whole new way to paint lifelike people with their true feelings. He really has a subtle insight into human nature.

Giotto was so famous that he even had a biographer to record his life. He was very lucky that he could be so reputed just in his life because many artists became well-known after they had died. He lived a really good life. He was entirely devoted to art in his whole life, and few of us, modern people, couldhave done like him.

Here you can have a complete view of it :http://artchive.com/artchive/G/giotto/giotto.jpg.html

The Mourning of Christ

This is the detail part of The Mourning of Christ. It is a fresco made by Giotto at Cappella dell'Arena in Padua.
In the painting, The Virgin Mary leans to Jesus' dead body, holding his neck and looking at him grievedly. Many women are kneeling around Christ. One is holding Jesus' head in her palms, and some are holding his body tenderly. John the disciple stretches his hands, gazing at Jesus brokenheartedly, showing his feeling of despair for his death. And angels are flying above them.
This painting expresses the grief of Jesus' grave death and people's respect and love to Jesus Christ.

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Here is the website:http://www.artsender.com/artists/Giotto_di_Bondone.htm

It contains many details of Giotto's life, and it also introduces many of Gitto's famous paintings. Giotto was a Florentine painter, sculptor, and architect. He was considered as the first genius of art in the Italian Renaissance. He was very different from other artists because he saved most of the money he earned and became a rich man. Furthermore, Giotto had very good relationship between some famous Popes.

Even though most of Giotto's works were about the stories in the Bible, he still painted the people very emotionally. They are like the real person, and people can get into the painting as if we're one of the audience.

Here is Joachim's Dream by Giotto di Bondone.

Joachim's Dream

This painting is very simple and obvious. In the painting, Joachim is sleeping in front of a small wooden house. The house is just like linking to the rock which Joachim is leaning against. An angel is flying toward him, and the two shepherds look at the coming angel curiously.

The sleeping Joachimgives me a sense of dignity. The angel is staring at Joachim earnestly. I like this painting very much. The people in the painting is realistic, and that was the greatest skill Giotto possessed.

Code Breakers

Here is a website about the German Lorenz cipher system:
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/lorenz/fish.htm

Germany created a new way of enciphering at that time. The pattern of the Vernam cipher is akin to logic, but it isn't random. Therefore, they tried to make it like random, but British still broke it by a mistake the German operator made. The operator sent the same message of about 4,000 letters in it again with the Lorenz machine. However, there were some differences between them. And British decipherers can compare them and recover them and break the code.


This is the Lorenz machine, which is also known as "Tunny Machine"

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Here is a website about enigma:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine

The enigma machine was invented in Germany at the end of WWI, but it was used commercially.

The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine

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This is a video shows how enigma works:

The enigma enciphers codes randomly. There are three rotors in it changing the result of typing the same word. Furthermore, there are about 100,000,000,000,000 possibilities of each letter. Therefore, it is difficult for someone to break the enigma code.

The POWs in WWII

Here's a website I found about the American prisoners of war in Germany:http://www.b24.net/pow/default.html

The prisoners were shut in solitary cells which was about 2.5m x 3.5m x 2.5m big. Each prisoner had a cot, a table, a chair and an electric bell to call the guards. They weren't treated very nicely. Some of the prisoners were stripped, or even kept wearing the clothes when they had been caught. Sometimes, the POWs had to prove themselves as airmen rather than spies by telling some technical information about planes, or they would get killed. The POWs had two pieces of bread in the morning and two at night. None of the Red Cross parcels were given to them, but they could get free water from the guards. Many of the POWs didn't have enough care of health. Some of them had the same dirty bandage when they'd got caught. The POWs didn't have a nice time during the war or even after the war ended.

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Here is a website about Prisoner of War Medal:http://www.axpow.org/powmedal.htm



The POW Medal was given to the American soldiers who were taken prisoner and held captive.

The an American bald eagle stabding in the middle with pride dignity, surrounded by a barbed wire. It symbolized that the American prisoners seized the hope to regain their freedom.

The black stripe in the middle of the ribbon means the despair of being prisoned in the war. The two white stripes adjacent to the black one typify hope. And the thin blue, white, and red stripes represent America.

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A Japanese pilot dropped into the ocean from his crashed plane. The US soldier tried to pull him up onto the boat. Instead of being a prisoner and ashamed, he decided to end up his own life by a grenade. However, it seemed that the American soldier had shot the Japanese several times before he died.

Spies in WWII

Here a website of the OSS in WWII made by http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/cloak.html

It talks detailedly about how the OSS started and what they did during the time. At that time, all of Germany's enemies in Europe were eliminated except England. D. Roosevelt worried about the columnists and traitors inside Norway, Belgium, Holland, and France. Therefore, he dispatched Bill Donovan all around Europe to get information of their enemies and search people that could be their allies. The searching was very successful and helpful, but there was no central intelligence office in the US. They established the COI at first. It onlt lasted a for a year. Then it was substituted by the OSS because the information of the COI wasn't including the potential of Japan's Attack in Hawaii. Roosevelt called in some experts and appointed them to make a school for spies, and the OSS was for trainning spies.






This is a photo of Bill Donovan.






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Here is a website which has some videos about the spies in the OSS: http://www.realmilitaryflix.com/public/209.cfm

It shows what is the secret agents in the OSS like. Before a person started his training, they checked his body. A spy in the OSS needs a haircut of the style in the enemies' area. Furthermore, there were many required equipments of a secret agent in the OSS. For example, the stickers on his suitcase, a handful of cigarettes and train tickets, etc. They were very small and common things, just like a hidden uniform. It was really cool to be a secret agent in the OSS.