Noah's Ark From The Compendium Of Chronicles example essay topic

Deon Face Art History Professor Hallman 12-04-02. The legacy of Genghis Khan and The Compendium of Chronicles Like Jesus, no one knows exactly when G hingis Khan was born, therefore different traditions develop different legends about when he was born. One tradition claimed that Khan was born in 1162, this was the date that The Mongolian People's Republic celebrated, this was logical because in 1962 they celebrated his 800th anniversary. Whatever the controversy may be, it still remains that he was born in the 1960's. Genghis Khan was the son of the Kiyat-Borjigid Chieftain; Yisuegi. He was named Temujen, because, at the time of his birth, his father had captured a Tatar chieftain of the same name.

As Temujen's was imprisoned by a group of Tatar, and the Kiyat tribe broke up and scattered, abandoning their chief's family and leaving Temujen's mother, Hoe lun to raise her children alone. In 1189, Temujen was elected as the new leader of the Kiyat tribe. After he was elected, he embarked on a series of military campaigns to unify the people of the steppe at a khuriltai, a traditional meeting of tribal leaders to decide upon the future military and state matters. He was given the title of Genghis Kahn meaning "emperor of all emperors" or "Oceanic ruler".

Genghis Khan's campaigns and those of his descendants led to the creation of an immense empire that stretch from Hungary to Korea. In a lifetime characterized by war and conquest. Genghis Khan forged the largest contiguous land empire in human history. His legacy was a unified Mongol confederacy that his sons and grandsons ruled for more than a century. During this peaceful era, people, objects, and ideas moved with unprecedented freedom over a vast territory that reach from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea. The confluence of previously distance cultures yielded a bold new visual aesthetic that would resonate in Islamic art for centuries to come.

On display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the landmark traveling exhibition "The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Arts and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353" explores the influence of Chinese Yuan dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan (a grandson of Genghis Khan), on the art and culture of Iran's Llkhanid dynasty, founded by Hulegu (another of his grandson). On view are some 200 works from museum and collection worldwide including rare textiles, ceramics, jewelry and metal work, works in stone and wood, and outstanding examples of art of the book. The exhibition I choose focuses on Genghis in greater Iran, an area conquered by his grandson, Hulegii (d. 1265), who subdued Iran in 1256 and conquer by Baghdad, the capital of the "Abbasid Caliphate, in 1258. Hulegu's dynasty - the llkhands or lesser Khans. - ruled this area until about 1353. The mongols' influence on Iran an Islamic culture gave birth to an extraordinary period in Islamic are that combined well-established traditions with the new visual language transmitted from Eastern Asia.

Such a unique transfer of mof its and patterns which some times also found their way in the opposite direction, west and east in the vast empire, would have not occurs if the mongols had failed to unify the Asian continent for more than a century. The seaulour and religious arts patronize by llkhanid court represent the majority of the works in the exhibition. Their genesis and development however are seen through their interaction with the outs of pre-yuan and yuan China, and the golden horde, following the rules of the Mongols from a strictly nomadic culture, to a refined courtly life. From the exhibition, I choose to write about the Compendium of Chronicles. The Compendium of Chronicles includes many religious stories, such as tales from the Bible and the biographies of the great religious figures Muhammad, Jesus, and Prince Siddhartha, who would become the Buddha. As stated in the catalogue, the compendium was commission successively by two ll khans, Ghazan (r.

1295-1304) and Ojeitu (r. 1304-16), and nominally written by Rashid al-Din himself, through it is far more likely, given his onerous politely and administrative responsible, that his major input was financial rather than authorial. In final form dating to about 1310, it compromised history of Ghazan Khan (volume 1). A universal history (volume 2) probably some four hundred folios in length, a survey of the genealogies of the Arabs, Jews, Mongols, Franks, and Chinese (volume 3), and their geographical Compendium (volume 4). The entire Compendium probably had no fewer than 12,000 large-format folios and perhaps 540 paintings.

What was the overall purpose of this work? The original commission makes as an attempt to display the Mongol commitment to Iran's culture heritage, while also exalting the history of Mongol. Those motive had obvious educational and propaganda dimensions that would be served (as well as contemporary technology allowed) by copying the texts as widely as practicable. In addition, the exceptionally large size of the manuscripts made them way suited for display and even for study by several people at once. The title of the first Compendium of Chronicles that I choose is "Noah's Ark". The painting is consists of Noah and his family.

The Ark is small in size, it is not exactly what is described in the Old Testament. If the title was not written next to the picture on the wall, your first guess would not be Noah's Ark. Personally, when I think of Noah's Ark, I think of a huge boat that is closed in fill with different species of animals. However, Noah's Ark from the Compendium of Chronicles does not have these characteristics in fact it is an open boat that is small in size and no animals whatsoever are seen in sight. This painting is done with ink, colors and gold on paper. The visible colors are red, blue, black and white.

The Second Compendium of Chronicles I choose title "The Death of Moses". This painting includes the Israelites and Moses on top of Mount Nebo. The same colors were used as the colors used in the in Noah's Ark. All the figures in this painting are either symbolic or ironic. Two ironies shown in the painting are as follows; 1) the people in the painting are all the same height as Mount Nebo 2) Moses and Mount Nebo is also the same height.

The symbolic figure in the painting is there are only five people who represents the entire nation of Israel. The third Compendium of Chronicles I choose title "Jonah and The Whale". The same colors as the other two paintings; red, blue, black and white. I think that out of all three paintings this is the closest illustration to the story of Jonah found in the Bible. When I read the story in the Bible this painting is similar to what had imagine it to be like. The only thing that is missing from the painting is the transportation in which Johan is crossing the ocean.

It is obvious that the theme of the Compendium of Chronicles bases on religious stories. This is so because many religions were practice in the Mongol empire. Traditionally, the Mongols practiced Shamanism, which relies on shamans, or priests t communicate with the spirit world. The Mongols later tolerated and sometimes followed the religions of Buddhism, Dao ism, Christianity, and Judaism... (Rashid al-Din himself was born Jewish.) In the western part of the empire, most of the population was Muslim, and eventually the khans who rule there also converted to Islam.