The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme

The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme!
Many of the origins of the humble nursery rhyme are believed to be associated with, or reflect, actual events in history! The secret meanings of the Nursery Rhyme have been lost in the passing of time. A nursery rhyme was often used to parody the royal and political events and people of the day. The humble Rhyme was used as a seemingly innocent vehicle to quickly spread subversive messages!

The Rhyme allowed an element of free speech!
A rhyme associates words with similar sounds using a rhyming couplet or short verse. A rhyme is often short and easy to remember and this was a critical element when many people were unable to read or write and a rhyme was verbally passed from generation to generation - it was also a vital element when commoners wanted to comment on the events of the day! It must be remembered that direct criticism or dissent would often have been punishable by death!

The Rhyme that led to Revolution!
The wording of an individual rhyme can often be associated with historical events and the plausible explanations given to many a rhyme can be seen as political satire. The first really important English rhyme dates back to the fourteenth century! This little rhyme was passed quickly from one person to another, was easily remembered and led to an English revolution - a call for recognition and class equality!

When Adam delved and Eve span
Who was then a gentleman

( To delve means to work and 'span' refers to spinning yarn
there was no class distinction when there was only Adam and Eve )

At this time the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) had ravaged England claiming the lives of a third of the population. Peasants realised that they were important to the England's economy. The 'Adam and Eve' rhyme was spread together with it's simple idea of equality. It helped to fuel the fire which culminated in the Peasants Revolt of 1381!

The Chapbooks
The Nursery Rhyme began to be printed in England as early as 1570! Printing allowed the production of books and cheap pamphlets, or Chapbooks. A chapbook is "a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts". More people during this time were learning to read but the chapbooks were also popular with people who could not read as they contained pictures, in the printed form of crude wood engravings - A Middle Ages equivalent of a Children's comic! So the Nursery Rhyme was then passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth and in a printed format.

Secret History and Origins of the Nursery Rhyme
The relationship of many historical events to the Nursery Rhyme have been long forgotten. The Bubonic Plague and its symptoms were parodied in Ring around the Rosy and the English Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) was believed to be the 'star' of the Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary rhyme which featured a hidden reference to the Queen's treatment of Protestants using instruments of torture (silver bells) and execution by burning them alive at the stake! It's no wonder that this Queen has since been known as Bloody Mary! Witches and their 'familiars', like cats, frogs, mice and owls, are frequently, but obliquely, referred to in the words of a Nursery Rhyme as we have discussed in The Identity of Mother Goose. We need to understand the people, history and cultures of by-gone days to unlock the hidden meanings of the humble Nursery rhyme. The history and origins of many an 'innocent' Nursery Rhyme can be found on this site! Look closely at the picture that we have used to illustrate the Mary, Mary rhyme - like the words of the Nursery Rhyme it is not what it would at first seem - first impressions can be deceptive!

For more information and meanings of nursery rhyme:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/nursery-rhyme.htm

The Egyptian Embalming Method

The Egyptian embalmers were members of the priesthood.

Some believe that their embalming method is a "lost art" but in fact it was rather crude and rather than lost, well known and documented.

Much of their success was undoubtedly due to the dry hot climate. Dead bodies are destroyed by the action of bacteria. Heat and lack of moisture are natural enemies to bacterial survival and growth.

The Egyptians practiced three methods of embalming based upon the wealth of the individual. The most expensive method was comprised of 5 steps and would cost over $2,000 in today’s dollars. The cheapest would have cost about $150.

Step 1. Removal of the brain. The skull was then repacked with resin.

Step 2. Evisceration. The internal organs were removed through an abdominal incision. The organs were either washed and mixed with resins and spices and returned to the body or were placed in separate burial vases called canopic jars.

Step 3. Immersion. The body was immersed in natron (sodium salt). The caustic action of the solution would cause the fingernails and toe nails to be removed. They were replaced in keeping with the belief that the body must be intact 3,000 later. This immersion lasted for 20-70 days.

Step 4. Dehydration. The body was cleansed, straightened and allowed to dehydrate in the sun.

Step 5. Wrapping. About 1200 yards of 3 1/4 inch bandage was used to wrap the body. Gum or glue held the clothe together and helped in fitting it around the body while it was still damp. The body was then placed in a sarcophagus and returned to the family.

The cheapest method was reserved for the poorest class of people which made up about 80% of the Egyptian population. It basically consisted of immersion in the natron solution.

Within a walled suburb known as the Necropolis (Literally, "City of the dead") all death care activities took place. Within these walls resided all those involved in these activities including coffin makers, artists, and the embalmers. Also located here were the crypts and tombs.

For more information go to:

http://www.wyfda.org/basics_3.html

disposal of the dead in various cultures

The Zoroastrian Dakhma-nashini mode of disposal of the dead

DAHKMA-NASHINI - ie. utter destruction of the dead body which is considered most unhygienic and polluting, both physically and spiritually, in this ancient religion of the Aryans - Mazda-Yasna, the worship of Ahura Mazda as revealed to the ancient Aryan prophet Zarathushtra about 8000 years BC., in Iran - the ancient abode of the Aryans.

After a human being dies, according to the Vendidad (ancient scripture of the Zoroastrians) - the evil spirit of putrefaction rushes on the dead body within about three hours after death, ie. in the next Geh (division of time) immediately after the one he dies in. After this time, the dead body cannot be touched by anybody except special corpse bearers (Nassesalars) who live apart from the rest of society. Spiritually and physically, the dead body is most unclean at this time. The body is now bathed in the urine (Taro) of a special white bull - again an ancient Indo-European or Aryan method of purification. The clothes are destroyed. A new Sudreh-Kusti are tied on the body - the Sudreh being a religious garment, the Kusti an ancient mark of the Aryan people, a religious woollen cord tied around the waist (a close parallel being the Janoi of the Indian Brahmins, who too have derived from the Aryan people.)

The body is now tied up in old Sudrehs, only the face is kept uncovered. Any person who touches the body at this time has to purify himself by taking the Nahan (religious bath) with Taro, which he has to pour on his body as well as sip of. The abhorrence the ancient Aryans had for the dead body and its polluting influence is stressed at every step of this ancient ritual. The special corpse bearers now put the corpse on a marble stone. Fire is kept alongside burning with sandalwood, and a Diva (lamp) is also lighted. The Dastur (Zoroastrian fire-priest) now comes and intones special prayers in the ancient Aryan language of Avestan (a sister language of Vedic Sanskrit).

By the evening or the morning of the next day, the Dasturs (priests) pray the GEH-SARNA ceremony. As per the Vendidad, the soul wanders near the body for the first three days and is as a new-born child, very susceptible to the attack of evil spirits. The Geh-Sarna ceremony strengthens the soul and helps it to proceed on its way - it is a well known fact that there have never been any ghosts of Zoroastrians because of the powerful effects of the ancient Avestan Mathras (verses of prayer). In fact no pregnant woman is allowed to be present near the Geh- Sarna ceremony because of the fear that the powerful incantations may have an adverse effect on the unborn child ie. the soul that has recently attached to the child in the womb and is waiting to be born. Such is the power of the Aryan Avestan prayers.

The members of the household then say goodbye to the departed for the last time (without touching the body). The corpse bearers then carry away the body on a special iron bier (iron and stone cannot be polluted, wood can) from the prayer rooms and prepare for its final destruction. In the open, the body is placed on a stone slab and a Dog is brought near to gaze on the face of the dead person. The Dog posseses divine sight, and as per Aryan tradition has the power to see and chase away any evil spirits. The body is then placed by the bearers in a circular well shaped stone structure, called the Dakhma or more recently the "Tower of Silence". Stone like iron is not polluted and so shields the good earth from the evil of putrefaction.

As per the Aryan scriptures, the Sun and the Vulture then work systematically and hand-in-hand to destroy the dead body. The rain then falls and washes away the dried bones into the sea. As much as 1 year is allowed in the Aryan scriptures for this process, and this is contrasted to the burial process where the earth is polluted for at least 50 years, and lies shallow and unused for cultivation - the greatest worship of God being cultivation, as per the Aryans. Burial/burning of corpses are both considered wrong actions in the Vendidad. In an earlier Fargad (chapter), Mazda says that they were actions dreamed up by the evil one and taught to humanity to mislead them to pollute the earth and the Fire. In my Saga of the Aryans Vol IV, I have explained this in some more detail in dramatic prose, when Zarathushtra receives his relevation from Ahura Mazda.

Sacred ceremonies then go on for 4 days. On the morning of the 4th day, by the rays of the rising sun, the soul of the departed person ascends and passes to the "Chinvato-Peretu", the Bridge that separates the spiritual (Minoi) world from the physical (Geti) world. There he meets his own conscience, in the form of a Kainini-Keherpa ie, in the astral form of a maiden. The maiden is as beautiful; or as hideous as his own works in the world. The soul is then judged by the divinity Mithra (Meher) and either passes on to Garodman, the abode of songs where Ahura Mazda (God) awaits him or to drujo-deman, the abode of the evil one. There the soul waits until it is time for the Resurrection of all the dead and the final defeat and expulsion of evil from THIS world, when death and disease and hunger and thirst will be a thing of the past and God Himself will come down to the earth, assisted by the final Saviour (Saoshyant.)

Funerals in the contemporary United States

Within the United States of America, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals have been divided into three principal parts:

• a "viewing" or "wake" in which the embalmed body of the deceased person is placed on display in the coffin. At the viewing, the friends and relations greet the more distant relatives and friends of the dead person(s) in a social gathering with little in the way of ritual. The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral. The only prescribed part of this gathering is that the attendants frequently sign a book kept by the decedent's survivors, to remind them that they have attended; and they are expected to view the decedent in the coffin. The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing. The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in the Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary. The viewing is either "open casket," in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket," in which the coffin is closed.

Note that this part of the mourning process is part of Christian tradition, but foreign to Judaism. Jewish funerals are held soon after death, and the corpse is never displayed.

• a memorial service, which is sometimes referred to on its own as a funeral and is often officiated by a member of the clergy of the decedent's religion. In this service, the person officiating, and on occasion the decedent's close friends and relatives, may read eulogies concerning the decedent's life and activities. Religious rituals, prayers, readings from the Bible or other sacred texts, hymns, and similar rites are often conducted at this service. (In some religious denominations, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican, eulogies are prohibited or discouraged during this service.)
• a burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb, or mausoleum or at the crematorium, at which the body of the decedent is buried or cremated at the conclusion.
• a light dinner (sometimes called a wake) follows the burial service in some traditions. This is sometimes prepared by women's committees of the decedent's church.

Generally speaking, the number of people who are considered obliged to attend each of these three rituals by etiquette decreases at each step. Distant relatives and acquaintances may be called upon to attend the viewing; the decedent's closer relatives and local friends attend the memorial service; if the burial is on a day other than the funeral, only the decedent's closest relatives attend the burial service, if one is conducted.

Funerals in ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, the eldest surviving male of the household, the pater familias, was summoned to the death-bed, where he attempted to catch and inhale the last breath of the decedent.

Funerals of the socially prominent were usually undertaken by professional undertakers called libitinarii. No direct description has been passed down of Roman funeral rites. These rites usually included a public procession to the tomb or pyre where the body was to be cremated. The most noteworthy thing about this procession was that the survivors bore masks bearing the images of the family's deceased ancestors. The right to carry the masks in public was eventually restricted to families prominent enough to have held curule magistracies. Mimes, dancers, and musicians hired by the undertakers, as well as professional mourners, took part in these processions. Less well to do Romans could join benevolent funerary societies (collegia funeraticia) who undertook these rites on their behalf.

Nine days after the disposal of the body, by burial or cremation, a feast was given (cena novendialis) and a libation poured over the grave or the ashes. Since most Romans were cremated, the ashes were typically collected in an urn and placed in a niche in a collective tomb called a columbarium (literally, "dovecote"). During this nine days period, the house was considered to be tainted, funesta, and was hung with yew or cypress branches to warn bypassers. At the end of the period, the house was swept in an attempt to purge it of the dead person's ghost.

Several Roman holidays commemmorated a family's dead ancestors, including the Parentalia, held February 13 through 21, to honour the family's ancestors; and the Lemuria, held on May 9, 11, and 13, in which ghosts (larvæ) were feared to be active, and the pater familias sought to appease them with offerings of beans.

Final disposition of the dead

Various cultures have devised different ways of finally disposing of the bodies of the dead. Some place the dead in tombs of various sorts, either individually, or in specially designated tracts of land that house tombs. Burial in a graveyard is one common form of tomb. In some places, such as New Orleans, Louisiana, burials are impractical because the ground water is too high; there tombs are placed above ground. Elsewhere, a separate building for a tomb is usually reserved for the socially prominent and wealthy. Especially grand aboveground tombs are called mausoleums. Other buildings used as tombs include the crypts in churches; burial in these places is again usually a privilege given to the socially prominent dead.

Burial was not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds needed to be re-used because of limited space. In these areas, once the dead have decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; after their removal they can be placed in an ossuary.

"Burial at sea" is a somewhat misleading phrase that identifies the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It is a common practice in navies and sea-faring nations; in the Church of England, special forms of funeral service were added to the Book of Common Prayer to cover it.

Cremation, also, is an old custom; it was the usual mode of disposing of a corpse in ancient Rome. Vikings were occasionally cremated in their longships, and afterwards the location of the site was marked with standing stones. In recent years, despite the objections of some religious groups, cremation has become more and more widely used. Orthodox Judaism and the Eastern Orthodox Church forbid cremation, as do most Muslims; Roman Catholicism allows it, but does not encourage it. Most varieties of Protestantism are indifferent to it.

Rarer forms of disposal of the dead include exposure, where the corpse is exposed to the elements. This was done by some groups of Native Americans; it is still practiced by Zoroastrianss in Bombay, where the Towers of Silence allow vultures and other carrion eating birds to dispose of the corpses.

Cannibalism is also practiced post-mortem in some countries. The practice has been linked to the spread of a prion disease called kuru.

http://wikilookup.info/info/guide/f/fu/funeral.html
http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/dakhma33.html

Phobia

By definition, phobias are IRRATIONAL, meaning that they interfere with one's everyday life or daily routine. For example, if your fear of high places prevents you from crossing necessary bridges to get to work, that fear is irrational. If your fears keep you from enjoying life or even preoccupy your thinking so that you are unable to work, or sleep, or do the things you wish to do, then it becomes irrational.

One key to diagnosing a phobic disorder is that the fear must be excessive and disproportionate to the situation. Most people who fear heights would not avoid visiting a friend who lived on the top floor of a tall building; a person with a phobia of heights would, however. Fear alone does not distinguish a phobia; both fear and avoidance must be evident. (Lefton, L. A., 1997)

Psychiatry identifies three different categories of phobias (DSM-IV,1994):

Agoraphobia
(with panic attacks): 300.21
(without panic attacks): 300.01
Irrational anxiety about being in places from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing.

Social phobia: 300.23
Irrational anxiety elicited by exposure to certain types of social or performance situations, also leading to avoidance behavior.

Specific phobia: 300.29
Persistent and irrational fear in the presence of some specific stimulus which commonly elicits avoidance of that stimulus, i.e., withdrawal.

SUBTYPES:

animal type - cued by animals or insects

natural environment type - cued by objects in the environment, such as storms, heights, or water

blood-injection-injury type - cued by witnessing some invasive medical procedure

situational type - cued by a specific situation, such as public transportation, tunnels, bridges, elevators, flying, driving, or enclosed spaces

other type - cued by other stimuli than the above, such as of choking, vomiting, or contracting an illness.

For an exhaustive list of phobias refer to the link below

http://phobialist.com/

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD):

Autism, Asperger syndrome and ASD

Autism is a life-long condition that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. As part of the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) it also includes the condition known as Asperger Syndrome, which describes people who show the characteristics of autism, but are of average or above average intelligence and may also have good communication skills [see reference]. The estimated prevalence rate of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), including Asperger syndrome, is approximately 1 per 100 children in the United Kingdom [see reference]. Autism also affects four times as many boys as girls. Though it describes a state with wide ranging degrees of severity, all those affected have a triad of impairments, which will include all or some of the following characteristics:

Difficulty with developing imagination

People with autism are usually unable to play imaginatively with objects or toys or with other children or adults. They tend to focus on minor or trivial things around them, for example an earring rather then the person wearing it, or a wheel instead of the whole toy train.

Difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication

People with autism may be unable to appreciate the social uses and the pleasure of communication. Even if the person with autism has a lot of speech they would probably use this to talk "at" you rather than with you. The person with autism may be able to ask for their own needs but find it hard to talk about feelings or thoughts and will not understand the emotions, ideas and beliefs of other people. They do not really understand the meaning of gestures, facial expression or tone of voice, although higher functioning people with autism do use gestures but these tend to be odd and inappropriate. People with autism understand and use language very literally, with an idiosyncratic, sometimes pompous choice of words and phrases and limited content of speech.

Difficulty with social relationships

People with autism may often appear aloof and indifferent to other people. The more able people with autism will passively accept social contact and even show some signs of pleasure in this, but will rarely make spontaneous approaches. They can occasionally approach other people but in an odd, inappropriate, repetitive way, paying little or no attention to the responses of those they approach.

What causes it?

The exact causes of autism have not yet been fully established [see reference]. It is however evident from research that autism can be caused by a variety of physical conditions affecting brain development that may occur before, during or after birth. They include: maternal rubella, tuberous sclerosis, lack of oxygen at birth (hypoxia) and various complications arising from childhood illnesses such as whooping cough and measles. In many instances, genetic traits also appear to be important, although the sites of the relevant genes have not yet been identified. Autism is not due to emotional problems or emotional deprivation.

Is there a cure?

As yet there is no cure for autism, but specialised education and structured support may help maximise a child's skills and minimise any behaviour problems [see reference]. The right kind of education and care programmes are essential. They can make a real difference to the child's life enabling each individual, whatever their level of ability, to achieve as great a degree of independence as possible. Apart from education and management programmes a variety of therapies have also been tried. Sometimes parents have found that one particular therapy has helped - but no single approach has been found to be successful for everybody.

http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/what.htm

Schizophrenia

WHAT IS IT?

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime – more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women with equal frequency, the disorder often appears earlier in men, usually in the late teens or early twenties, than in women, who are generally affected in the twenties to early thirties. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by others, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. Their speech and behavior can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to others. Available treatments can relieve many symptoms, but most people with schizophrenia continue to suffer some symptoms throughout their lives; it has been estimated that no more than one in five individuals recovers completely.

Schizophrenia As An Illness

Schizophrenia is found all over the world. The severity of the symptoms and long-lasting, chronic pattern of schizophrenia often cause a high degree of disability. Medications and other treatments for schizophrenia, when used regularly and as prescribed, can help reduce and control the distressing symptoms of the illness. However, some people are not greatly helped by available treatments or may prematurely discontinue treatment because of unpleasant side effects or other reasons. Even when treatment is effective, persisting consequences of the illness – lost opportunities, stigma, residual symptoms, and medication side effects – may be very troubling.

The first signs of schizophrenia often appear as confusing, or even shocking, changes in behavior. Coping with the symptoms of schizophrenia can be especially difficult for family members who remember how involved or vivacious a person was before they became ill. The sudden onset of severe psychotic symptoms is referred to as an “acute” phase of schizophrenia. “Psychosis,” a common condition in schizophrenia, is a state of mental impairment marked by hallucinations, which are disturbances of sensory perception, and/or delusions, which are false yet strongly held personal beliefs that result from an inability to separate real from unreal experiences. Less obvious symptoms, such as social isolation or withdrawal, or unusual speech, thinking, or behavior, may precede, be seen along with, or follow the psychotic symptoms.

Some people have only one such psychotic episode; others have many episodes during a lifetime, but lead relatively normal lives during the interim periods. However, the individual with “chronic” schizophrenia, or a continuous or recurring pattern of illness, often does not fully recover normal functioning and typically requires long-term treatment, generally including medication, to control the symptoms.

The World of People With Schizophrenia

Distorted Perceptions of Reality

People with schizophrenia may have perceptions of reality that are strikingly different from the reality seen and shared by others around them. Living in a world distorted by hallucinations and delusions, individuals with schizophrenia may feel frightened, anxious, and confused.

In part because of the unusual realities they experience, people with schizophrenia may behave very differently at various times. Sometimes they may seem distant, detached, or preoccupied and may even sit as rigidly as a stone, not moving for hours or uttering a sound. Other times they may move about constantly – always occupied, appearing wide-awake, vigilant, and alert.

Hallucinations and Illusions

Hallucinations and illusions are disturbances of perception that are common in people suffering from schizophrenia. Hallucinations are perceptions that occur without connection to an appropriate source. Although hallucinations can occur in any sensory form – auditory (sound), visual (sight), tactile (touch), gustatory (taste), and olfactory (smell) – hearing voices that other people do not hear is the most common type of hallucination in schizophrenia. Voices may describe the patient’s activities, carry on a conversation, warn of impending dangers, or even issue orders to the individual. Illusions, on the other hand, occur when a sensory stimulus is present but is incorrectly interpreted by the individual.

Delusions

Delusions are false personal beliefs that are not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and are not explained by a person’s usual cultural concepts. Delusions may take on different themes. For example, patients suffering from paranoid-type symptoms – roughly one-third of people with schizophrenia – often have delusions of persecution, or false and irrational beliefs that they are being cheated, harassed, poisoned, or conspired against. These patients may believe that they, or a member of the family or someone close to them, are the focus of this persecution. In addition, delusions of grandeur, in which a person may believe he or she is a famous or important figure, may occur in schizophrenia. Sometimes the delusions experienced by people with schizophrenia are quite bizarre; for instance, believing that a neighbor is controlling their behavior with magnetic waves; that people on television are directing special messages to them; or that their thoughts are being broadcast aloud to others.

Disordered Thinking

Schizophrenia often affects a person’s ability to “think straight.” Thoughts may come and go rapidly; the person may not be able to concentrate on one thought for very long and may be easily distracted, unable to focus attention.

People with schizophrenia may not be able to sort out what is relevant and what is not relevant to a situation. The person may be unable to connect thoughts into logical sequences, with thoughts becoming disorganized and fragmented. This lack of logical continuity of thought, termed “thought disorder,” can make conversation very difficult and may contribute to social isolation. If people cannot make sense of what an individual is saying, they are likely to become uncomfortable and tend to leave that person alone.

Emotional Expression

People with schizophrenia often show “blunted” or “flat” affect. This refers to a severe reduction in emotional expressiveness. A person with schizophrenia may not show the signs of normal emotion, perhaps may speak in a monotonous voice, have diminished facial expressions, and appear extremely apathetic. The person may withdraw socially, avoiding contact with others; and when forced to interact, he or she may have nothing to say, reflecting “impoverished thought.” Motivation can be greatly decreased, as can interest in or enjoyment of life. In some severe cases, a person can spend entire days doing nothing at all, even neglecting basic hygiene. These problems with emotional expression and motivation, which may be extremely troubling to family members and friends, are symptoms of schizophrenia – not character flaws or personal weaknesses.

Normal Versus Abnormal

At times, normal individuals may feel, think, or act in ways that resemble schizophrenia. Normal people may sometimes be unable to “think straight.” They may become extremely anxious, for example, when speaking in front of groups and may feel confused, be unable to pull their thoughts together, and forget what they had intended to say. This is not schizophrenia. At the same time, people with schizophrenia do not always act abnormally. Indeed, some people with the illness can appear completely normal and be perfectly responsible, even while they experience hallucinations or delusions. An individual’s behavior may change over time, becoming bizarre if medication is stopped and returning closer to normal when receiving appropriate treatment.

http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/sz.overview.htm

Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness. You have a preoccupation with food and body image to the extreme: You don’t eat. Despite being underweight, you continue to try to lose weight. The syndrome is more common in women than in men, and most often begins between the ages of 13-30 years. The medical complications brought about by this psychiatric disorder can be severe. You may die.

Bulimia

Bulimia is an eating disorder. Someone with bulimia might binge on food and then vomit (also called purge) in a cycle of binging and purging. Binge eating refers to quickly eating large amounts of food over short periods of time. Purging involves forced vomiting, laxative use, excessive exercise, or fasting in an attempt to lose weight that might be gained from eating food or binging.

The strict medical definition used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) requires 2 binge-eating episodes a week for at least 3 months to make the diagnosis, but it's likely that some people with symptoms of bulimia may not fit these exact criteria.

A person with bulimia often feels a loss of control over their eating as well as guilt over their behavior. They are usually aware that their behavior is abnormal. Bulimia is most common in adolescent and young adult women. People with bulimia are often of normal or near-normal weight, which makes them different from people with anorexia (another eating disorder in which the person does not eat).

The Nine Gems of Akbar

The Mughal Emperor Akbar (1543-1605), though illiterate and unable to read or write, demonstrated a remarkable appreciation of other religious thoughts. He was also a connoisseur of music and fine arts. The Mughal architecture, that later culminated in the glorious Taj Mahal, found its beginnings in Akbar’s rule. Music and miniature paintings reached their zenith. His tolerance to other religions perhaps came from his many queens including his principle wife who was a Hindu. He had also married a Christian, and several Indian and Persian Muslim women. Akbar reigned as the Mughal monarch for several decades and established himself as the most benevolent, tolerant Emperor; and history knows him as Akbar the Great.

The court of Akbar held some of the best India had to offer at that time. The Emperor had an enormously curious intellect. He would routinely assemble religious leaders of other religions in his court and patiently listen to them. Thus it was not only Hinduism he was curious about but had Christian missionaries who were more and more common after Vasco da Gama visited India. Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism also were his fascinations. He eventually formed his own religion, Din Ilahi, gathering the best from his understanding of the various religions. Akbar married thirty three times and had brides from all faiths. With his alliances with the daughters of nobles, he was able to bring peace in his empire. Several Rajput kings were his relatives by marriage and were loyal to him. Diplomacy through matrimony!

The great administrator who was also an aficionado of the arts attracted the best contemporary minds to his court. Nine such extraordinary talents, who shone brightly in their respective fields, were known as Akbar’s nine gems. The nomenclature as nine gems is chosen because there are nine well-known gems (nava-rathna). There were endless lists of worthy people in his court that shone like the brightest gems, and to choose only nine amongst them is a difficult task indeed.

1. Abul Fazl (1551-1602) was the chronicler of Akbar’s rule. He authored the biographical Akbarnama, which was the result of seven years of painstaking work. He documented the history meticulously, giving a full and accurate picture of the prosperous life during the monarch’s reign. His account also shed light on the brilliant administrative capacity of the Emperor.

2. Faizi (1547-1595) was Abul Fazl’s brother. He was a poet writing verses in Persian. Akbar had enormous respect for this genius and appointed him as a tutor for his son. His famous work is called Lilabati, on mathematics.

3. Mian Tansen was a classical singer of unparalleled fame. He was born a Hindu in 1520 near Gwalior to Mukund Mishra, who was a poet himself. He learnt music from Swami Haridas and later from Hazrat Mohammad Ghaus. He was a court musician with the prince of Mewar and later recruited by Akbar as his court musician. The prince of Mewar was said to have been heartbroken to part with him. Tansen became a legendary name in India and was the composer of many classical ragas. His raga Deepak and raga Megh Malhar are famous. When he sang these ragas, Tansen was said to have lit the lamp and caused rain showers. He is also credited with creating raga Darbari Kanada and originating Drupad style of singing. Even today the classical gharanas try to align themselves with Mian Tansen. He was buried in Gwaliar, where a tomb has been constructed for him. There is a tamarind tree next to the tomb, which is reputed to be as old as the tomb itself. It is believed that one who chews a leaf from this tree in earnest faith will be bestowed with musical talents. It is unclear if Tansen converted to Islam. Akbar who was very fond of him gave him the title Mian. Tansen’s son Bilas Khan composed raga Bilaskhani Todi and his daughter Saraswati Devi was a well-known Drupad singer.

4. Birbal (1528-1583) was a poor Brahmin who was appointed to the court of Akbar for his wit as well as wisdom. Born by the name Maheshdas, he was conferred the name Raja Birbal by the Emperor. A man of tireless wit and charm, he enjoyed the Emperor’s favor in administration as his trusted minister, and for his entertainment as his court jester. There are many witty stories of exchanges and interactions between the monarch and his minister that are popular even today. The stories are thought provoking, intelligent as well as educational. Birbal was also a poet and his collections under the pen name ‘Brahma” are preserved in Bharatpur Museum. Raja Birbal died in battle, attempting to quell unrest amongst Afghani tribes in Northwest India. Akbar was said to have mourned for a long time on hearing the news.

5. Raja Todar Mal was Akbar’s finance minister, who from 1560 onwards overhauled the revenue system in the kingdom. He introduced standard weights and measurements, revenue districts and officers. His systematic approach to revenue collection became a model for the future Mughals as well as the British. Raja Todar Mal was also a warrior who assisted Akbar in controlling the Afghan rebels in Bengal. Raja Todar Mal had learnt his craft from another able administrator Sher Shah. In 1582, Akbar bestowed on the raja the title Diwan-I- Ashraf.

6. Raja Man Singh, the Kacchwaha rajput raja of Amber. (Later Kacchwahas built Jaipur, close to Amber). This trusted lieutenant of Akbar was the grandson of Akbar’s father-in-law. His family had been inducted into Mughal hierarchy as amirs (nobles). Raja Man Singh assisted Akbar in many fronts including holding off advancing Hakim (Akbar’s half-brother, a governor of Kabyul) in Lahore. He also led campaigns in Orissa.

7. Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khan, a poet was the son of Akbar’s trusted protector and caretaker when he was a teenager, Bairam Khan. After Bairam Khan was murdered by treachery, his wife became the second wife of Akbar.

8. Fagir Aziao Din and (9) Mullan Do Piaza were two advisors belonging to Akbar’s inner circle.

I have seen other names mentioned as gems of Akbar’s court. Daswant, the painter and Abud us-Samad, a brilliant calligrapher, have also been named in some articles. Mir Fathullah Shiraz, who was a financier, philosopher, astrologer and an astute physician, has also been mentioned. Nevertheless, it is apparent that Akbar’s court was filled with brilliant minds in the fields of art, administration and warfare.

With these varieties of brave soldiers with sharp intellect and wit as well as some of the greatest names in the world of art and music, Akbar ruled what history calls the greatest Mughal Empire. Akbar came to be called the greatest of the six great Mughal emperors. The foresight of this illiterate and dyslexic Emperor was remarkable and unique in history.

– Neria Harish Hebbar, MD
April 5, 2003

Russian folk art

Dymkovo toys, a unique phenomenon in Russian folk art, are among the most popular works of folk craftsmen of Russia and all over the world. For many decades folk art exhibitions have invariably included the colored clay figurines and figure compositions.Dymkovo clay dolls take their name from the village of Dymkovo near Vyatka. The hand-made figurines are dried for a few days in the open air, fired in an oven or kiln, whitewashed with a solution of chalk and skimmed milk and painted with distemper egg yolk paints. The techniques are simple but the effect is pure folk craftsmanship. These toys depict the merchant and upper class from 19th century Russian villages and towns. Women of fashion, nannies, wet-nurses, merchant's daughters -- all were dressed in the national Russian costume of sarafan frock and high headgear. Dymkovo craftsmen and women made wildly exaggerated fashion statements with these toys.The origin of Dymkovo toys goes back to ancient times, and is linked with the local festival of the Vyatka province, Svistoplyaska ("whistle-dance", dancing with and to whistles). The festival included commemoration of the ancestors, rolling clay balls down a steep slope of the river, play-fights, promenading and also rich bazaars selling sweets, nuts but mainly clay toys and whistles made by thousands in Dymkovo specially for the occasion.The chief manufacturers of toys were women and children, who worked seasonally first, and later throughout the year. There were three types of clay toys, balls, whistles and dolls. The first two are of ancient origin connected with the heathen symbols of fertility, which must also account for the prevalence of women with children, domestic animals, and fowl among the figurine motifs. With the passage of time pagan symbols gave way to everyday themes, and clay balls and whistles were substituted by figurines and groups that decorated window sills, cabinets like fashionable china.However, still rooted in ancient traditions, Dymkovo toys were not imitations of porcelain, they developed into an original art, vital and always up-to-date. The toys prospered on new themes and subjects taken from life and, at the same time, modified by people's imagination. Thus, a new world of Dymkovo toys was formed, with tradition and imagery of its own; new artistic media and standards became established, that were characteristic of the new art throughout its development. Dymkovo toys appeal to our contemporaries by their artistry, clear-cut characters, witty humor and optimism. These are the traits that make this original art superior to time.
Bibliography:http://www.rbrides.com/info/russian-dymkovo-toys.htmhttp://www.kolinskyartbrushes.com/dymkovo-figurines/brief.html

What doess your name mean?

India
Abhay....fearless
Abhijat....noble, wise
Abhijit....one who is victorious (Abhijeet)
Abhinav....quite new
Abhishek....shower of milk/water over an idol
Achintya....beyond comprehension
Achyuta....indestructible
Aditya....sun
Ajatashatru....without enemies
Ajay....unconquerable, invincible
Ajit....unconquerable (Ajeet)
Ajitabh....one who has conquered the sky
Akash .... sky
Akhilesh .... lord of the universe
Akhilesh .... indestructible, immortal
Akshat .... uninjurable
Alok .... cry of victory
Amal .... bright, clean, pure
Amar .... forever, immortal
Ambar .... sky
Ameya .... boundless, magnanimous
Amish .... honest
Amit .... endless, boundless
Amitabh .... one with boundless splendour
Amitava .... same as Amitabh
Amitesh .... infinite god
Amogh .... unerring
Amol .... priceless, valuable
Amrit .... nectar
Amulya .... priceless
Anand .... bliss
Anant .... infinite
Anantram .... eternal god
Angada .... bracelet, brother of Wali and Sugreev
Anil .... god of wind
Anirudhha .... cooperative
Anish .... supreme
Ankit .... conquered
Ankur .... sprout
Anoop .... incomparable, the best
Anupam .... incomparable
Anurag .... attachment, devotion, love
Anshul .... radiant
Anshuman .... Sun
Apoorva .... quite new
Arihant .... one who has killed his enemies
Arjun .... peacock
Arnav .... ocean, sea
Arun .... sun
Arvind .... lotus
Ashok .... one without sorrow
Ashwatthama .... fiery tempered
Ashwini .... one of the constallations
Aseem .... boundless, limitless (Asim)
Ashvin .... a cavalier
Atmajyoti .... light of soul
Atul .... matchless
Atulya .... unweighable, incomparable
Avinash .... indestructible
Avanindra .... king of the earth
Abhilasha .... desire
Abha .... lustre, shine
Abhaya .... fearless
Achala .... steady, mountain
Aditi .... mother of gods
Aghanashini .... destroyer of sins
Ahladita .... in happy mood
Ajala .... the earth
Akhila .... complete
Akriti .... diagram
Akuti .... princess
Alka .... lock of curly hair
Alaknanda .... flawless
Alopa .... faultless
Alpa .... little
Amba .... Parvati
Ambu .... water
Ambuja .... lotus
Ambuda .... cloud
Amshula .... sunny
Amoda .... happiness
Amodini .... happy girl
Amita .... limitless
Amrita .... nectar
Anita .... grace
Amulya .... priceless
Ananya .... matchless
Anandita .... happy
Anarghya .... priceless
Anchita .... honoured, worshipped
Anjali .... offering
Anju .... one who lives in heart
Anisha .... continuous
Ankita .... conquered, a signet, symbol
Anupama .... unique, unparalleled
Anuradha .... a bright star
Anuragini .... beloved
Anushri .... pretty
Anuprabha .... brightness
Anurati .... consent
Anusha .... beautiful morning, a star
Apala .... most beautiful
Aparajita .... undefeated
Aparna .... same as Parvati
Archana .... worship
Archita .... one who is worshipped
Archisha .... a ray of light
Aradhana .... worship
Arati .... hymns sang in praise of god
Aruna .... dawn
Arunima .... glow of dawn
Asha .... hope
Ashalata .... creeper of hope
Ashakiran .... ray of hope
Ashavari .... name of a raaga
Ashwini .... name of a star
Avani .... Earth
Avantika .... princess of Ujjain

what is the study of bees? A. apiology....want to know more?..read on

Abiology: the study of inanimate objects
Acarology: the study of ticks and mites
Actinobiology: the study of the effects of radiation upon living organisms
Actinology: the study of the effect of light on chemicals
Agrology: the art and science of agriculture (Canada)
Agrology: the study of soils (not Canada)
Aerology: the study of the free atmosphere
Aeropalynology: the study of pollen grains and spores (palynomorphs) in the atmosphere
Aetiology: the medical study of the causation of disease
Agnoiology: the study of things of which we are by nature ignorant,
or of things which cannot be known
Agrobiology: the study of plant nutrition and growth in relation to soil conditions
Algology: the study of algae
Allergology: the study of the causes and treatment of allergies; a branch of medicine
Andrology: the study of male health and disease
Anesthesiology: the study of anesthesia and anesthetics; a branch of medicine
Angelology: the study of angels
Angiology: the study of the anatomy of blood and lymph vascular systems
Anthropology: the study of humans
Apiology: the study of bees (apiaries)
Arachnology: the study of spiders and their kind
Archaeology: the study of ancient history
Archaeozoology: the study of relationships between humans and animals over time
through examination of animal remains at archaeological sites (also see Zooarchaeology)
Areology: the study of Mars
Assyriology: the study of the Assyrians
Astrobiology: the study of origin of life
Astrogeology: the study of geology of celestial bodies (e.g., planets, asteroids, comets)
Astrology: the study of purported influences of stars on human affairs
Audiology: the study of hearing; a branch of medicine
Autecology: the study of the ecology of any individual species
Axiology: the study of the nature of values and value judgements

The Rise of Landscape Painting in the West

The greatest difference between the art of the 19th and the preceding centuries is the increasing importance attached to natural scenery. The Old masters were not altogether inattentive to inanimate Nature, but it did not occur to them that scenery alone could be sufficient subject for a picture.
For the 19th century professional artist, landscape represented a new genre, and a radical departure from the figural drawing that had been the emphasis in their training and in "important art" immediately prior to their time: it relied on a sophisticated theory of the Sublime which placed them in the role of near-priest, interpreter, and teacher.
In the West, the concept of landscape grew very slowly. Nature was traditionally viewed as consisting of isolated objects long before it was appreciated as scene or environment. As a result landscape painting as an independent art was a late development in the West. Many scenes, from the Hellenistic pastoral paintings of antiquity to the religious works of the 16th cent. A.D., contained expansive landscape backgrounds, but they were usually subordinated within a narrative context.
In the East, nature had always preoccupied the minds of the finest artists, in China landscape was regarded as the highest branch of art; but in Europe men thought otherwise, and it was only slowly that landscape crept forward from the background and gradually occupied the whole picture.

Landscape painting in Europe:
Throughout the 18th century, landscape painting had existed primarily for two reasons: as a picturesque setting for some more important, human drama, and as topography, or a quasi-scientific reconstruction of the land masses of a particular area. Both approaches followed conventions of scale, type, and detail; neither was considered to be the significant work of a professional painter. For most artists in training at the beginning of the 19th century, therefore, the notion of working exclusively, or even primarily in landscape was a bizarre one. The situation in France, for example, was not uncommon. Here, artistic education was ordered by genre (first drawing, then painting), by model (first classical casts, then the life model), and by subject (always the human figure). By the time of the regular government-sponsored exhibitions (the Salons) of early 19th-century France, there was a well-established hierarchy of subjects dictating which subjects would be considered the most important, and therefore most worthy, by Salon juries (and therefore, by potential buyers both governmental and private). This hierarchy was headed by subjects predictably predetermined in 18th-century Rococo and Neo-Classical art: history and religious subjects topped the list, with portraiture, especially if treating an important subject, following those. Still life was considered less educational, less uplifting, and therefore less important to the hierarchy; landscape was considered dead last.

The presumption of this hierarchy was, in fact, that landscape could not aspire to the "higher" aims of art--education and inspiration. Actual landscape instruction was therefore minimal, and offered only with the assumption that certain more important subjects might require an outdoor setting. Sketching from nature was allowed, but only as a preliminary stage in one's work, and landscapes included in major exhibitions were notably ignored by critics: although they might be interesting studies, they simply did not merit analysis as works of art. For the French system in particular, landscape's low esteem proved difficult to change. The French Academy's coveted Prix de Rome for art students, for example, had no landscape category until 1817, when "historic" landscapes with some narrative event were reluctantly allowed.

All of these French presumptions about landscapes and their role as background setting rather than as a major means of expression were questioned with the introduction of several new philosophies of nature which began to be promulgated, notably in the northern countries of Western Europe, at the end of the 18th century. It was at this time that Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) formulated his notion of individual "Will," thereby admitting a whole world of non-rational urges that must lie beneath a thin veil of consciousness; at that time also the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) proposed an equation of God with the natural order of the world. In addition, one of the most influential of these new philosophies for landscape art was the even earlier theory of the "Sublime," defined in 1756 by the British statesman and political theorist Edmund Burke (1729-1797). The basis of Burke's beliefs was that the life of feeling and spirit depended on a harmony within the larger order of the universe. The sublime, therefore, was the ultimate experience of divinity, a mixture of awe, fear, and enlightenment produced by the contemplation of a powerful, terrifying nature; for Burke, the sublime was already connected to landscape. The association between the power of nature and a recognition of the divinity behind it was a constant theme of early Romantic writing. In 1797, for example, the German philosopher Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829) published his Ideas about Nature Philosophy; in the same year, in a collection of stories entitled Effusions of an Art-Loving Friar, the writer Wilhelm Wackenroder (1773-1798) proclaimed that there exist only two languages through which God allows the human to comprehend the Divine; one of these is reserved for God alone, but the other is given to a few "anointed favorites" who in turn interpret them. As Wackenroder explained, the second language had two components: "They are: nature and art."
The concurrence of these ideas proved fruitful for the beginnings of the "grand tradition" of landscape. German artists, inspired by their contemporaries' writings on the importance of nature for moral and religious education, began to create landscapes that, unlike the French "setting" landscapes, were instead symbolic scenes filled with meaning. When in 1808 Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) exhibited Cross in the Mountains, a landscape intended as an altarpiece for a private chapel, critics condemned his use of landscape for religious expression as sacrilegious. Friedrich responded to these accusations by offering an "Interpretation of the Picture" which identified the natural images as symbols for religious beliefs: "The Cross stands erected on a rock unshakably firm as our faith in Jesus Christ. Evergreen, enduring through all ages, the firs stand round the cross, like the hope of mankind in Him . . ." Friedrich's comments highlight both his view of the landscape as symbol and his belief that the study of nature was an important occupation equal to that of figure study: it could even be a religious image. A work like Friedrich's 1818 Woman in the Morning Sun…a painting in which the figure is uncharacteristically large yet typically faces an infinite landscape--can serve as an example of his approach. The figure, seen from the back, is deliberately anonymous, inviting us as viewers to take her place: with arms outstretched towards an expansive horizon and setting sun, she enacts our desired communion with the landscape as means to a Burkean sublime. The path on which the woman stands ends abruptly before her, a symbol of the limitations of everyday reality. She must instead traverse through meditation the remaining landscape, which leads directly into the sun; that is, into another, more spiritual world. In works such as this, Friedrich not only introduced into art the nature worship common to many writers in Dresden, such as his friends "Novalis" (Friedrich Hardenberg, 1772-1801) and Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853), but also offered a model of compositional devices. His solitary, anonymous figures set against expansive vistas demonstrated, visually, the means by which to entice the viewer to take a place in the composition and therefore a part in the sublime experience.
The fact that the Germans were espousing the sublime theories of Burke, a British writer, suggests that an interrelationship of ideas in these two countries existed; for example, not only similar theories but even similar phrases can be found in the contemporary writings of Novalis and the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Corresponding to Friedrich's generation of German Romantics, therefore, was an equally important group of English artists who also created sublime landscapes. This generation, usually represented by Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable (1776-1837), sought expression of the sublime through two different yet complementary means, termed "nature terribilita" and "nature champetre." The depiction of a "terrible" nature--one that overpowered and dominated humanity by virtue of its spectacular effects, from mountaintop views to hurricane winds--was the sublime vision most directly related to Burke's original definition and that which fascinated Turner. Constable, on the other hand, preferred what his friend Wordsworth called a "tranquil sublimity" in nature--one that inspired by means of enduring presence and calm harmony. While the "terribilità" landscape might emphasize elemental power and spatial infinity, the countryside scene stressed harmonious coexistence in a continuum of eternity. For both artists, however, the notion of landscape as sublime continued to mean, as it did for the German Romantics, the use of the landscape as symbol, and the belief in nature as education. Rather than follow the 18th-century model of landscape as setting or topography, the 19th-century European landscape had become an uplifting moral and spiritual experience.

English Watercolour Episode:
In the second half of the 18th century, helped by the revolutionary changes in technology like improvement in pencils and paper quality, a British School of watercolourist emerged. The pioneer was Alexander Cozens who invented the way of composing monochrome landscapes by what he called ‘blot drawing’ using ink blots to stimulate the imagination.
The English watercolour school is important for 4 reasons:
1) They aroused a wide and eventually global, interest in landscape as such.
2) They improved landscape painting by making it a universal practice to sketch in the open air, usually with watercolour , thus producing material which could be later turned into large-scale oils in the studio.
3) They encouraged a much more subtle and accurate study and reproduction of natural colour.
4) They promoted atmospheric painting- that is accurate and sophisticated rendering of skies, clouds, sunlight and other weather-effects.
The ease with which watercolours could be carried about in remote and fascinating mountain districts, for instance aided all these objects.
All these achievements entered the mainstream of painting and worked themselves out in the efforts of countless artists in the 19th century and beyond. Thus the ‘English Watercolour Episode’ is a key moment in the history of painting.



Barbizon school:
An informal school of French landscape painting that flourished c.1830–1870. Its name derives from the village of Barbizon, a favorite residence of the painters associated with the school. Théodore Rousseau was the principal figure of the group, which included the artists Jules Dupré, Narciso Diaz de la Peña, Constant Troyon, and Charles Daubigny. These men reacted against the conventions of classical landscape and advocated a direct study of nature. Their work was strongly influenced by 17th-century Dutch landscape masters including Ruisdael, Cuyp, and Hobbema. Corot and Millet are often associated with the Barbizon group, but in fact Corot's poetic approach and Millet's humanitarian outlook place them outside the development of the school. The Barbizon painters helped prepare for the subsequent development of the impressionist schools.
They rejected the Academic tradition, abandoning theory in an attempt to achieve a truer representation of life in the countryside, and are part of the French Realist movement.


Some of the artists to promote landscape paintings:

Claude Gellee:
The artist who is usually considered to have been the father of modern landscape painting was a Frenchman, Claude Gellee (1600-82), born near Mirecourt on the Moselle, who at an early age went to Rome, where he remained practically for the rest of his life. Claude’s interest was entirely in Nature and particularly in the illumination of Nature. He was the first artist who “set the sun in the heavens,” and he devoted his whole attention to portraying the beauty of light; but thought his aerial effects are unequalled to this day and though his pictures were approved and collected in his own day by the Kind of Spain, Pope Urban VIII and by many influential Cardinals, yet the appreciation of pure landscape was so limited then that Claude rarely dared to leave figures out of his pictures and was obliged to choose subjects which were not simply landscapes but gave him an excuse for painting landscapes.
In Claude’s “Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca”, we are not disposed to ask which is Isaac and which is Rebecca or try to discover what all the figures are doing because to us the beauty of the landscape is an all-sufficient reason for the picture’s existence. Our whole attention is given to the beautiful painting of the trees and the lovely view that lies between them, to the golden glow of the sky to the flat surface of the water with its reflected light and to the exquisite gradations of the tones by which the master has conveyed to us the atmosphere of the scene and the vastness of the distance he depicts.
In his “Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba”, we are at once conscious that the conscious that the glorious rendering of the sun in the sky and its rays on the rippled surface of the sea constitute the principle interest of the picture; this was what primarily interested the painter and his building, shipping and people are only on many accessories wit which he frames and presents to us his noble vision of light. To Claude’s contemporaries these titles and the figures, which justified them, had far more importance than they have to us and it was by professing to paint subjects, which the taste of his day deemed elevating and ennobling that Claude was able to enjoy prosperity and paint the landscapes which are truly noble.

Nicolas Poussin:
Another Frenchman, also a contemporary of Claude, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), is regarded as a pioneer of landscape painting though he was also a figure painter of great ability who upheld the classical style of the antique in his Biblical and pagan figure subjects. Poussin worked chiefly in Rome.

Richard Wilson:
Richard Wilson known as ‘the father of British landscape’ is one of the saddest stories in British art. Though acknowledged to be one of the most eminent men of his day, and attaining a modest measure of success in middle life, Fortune turned her back on him.
Although it is by landscape painting that Richard acquired lasting fame, his life began as a portrait-painter. There has been a general belief that Wilson did not attempt landscape painting till he found himself in Italy, but it has recently been ascertained that he unquestionably painted landscape before he left England. In Italy Wilson devoted more and more of his time to landscape till he finally established himself in Rome as a landscape painter. His beautiful pictures of Italian landscape, in which dignity of design was combined with atmospheric truth and loveliness of colour, soon gained him a great reputation in that city and his landscapes were bought by the Earl of Pembroke etc. when he returned to England in 1756, his reputation preceded him and he enjoyed a considerable measure of success when he established himself in London at the Covent Garden. But unfortunately for Wilson the taste of the 18th century was severely classical, and after the first novelty of his Italian landscape wore off, only two enlightened patrons like Sir Richard Ford, were capable of appreciating the originality and beauty of the landscape he painted in England. The full measure of Wilson’s greatness can be seen in the splendor of the flaming sunset sky in ‘The Tiber, with Rome in the Distance’ reveals how Wilson showed the way to Turner, the sweet simplicity and natural beauty of ‘The Thames near Twickenhan’ proves him also to have been the artistic ancestor of Constable.
Wilson’s landscapes went begging in his own day. He was the first English artist to show his countrymen not only the beauty of Nature but also the beauty of their own country.

Rembrandt: (Dutch school)
Overwhelmed by his domestic sorrows, neglected by his former patrons Rembrandt turned to Nature for consolation. He wandered around the countryside recording all he saw. Practically all his landscapes were painted between 1640 and 1652. Many of his most beautiful landscape etchings were also executed during this period. The most famous of them all “The Three Trees’ was done in 1643. It shows a view of Asterdam form a slight eminence outside the town and a storm-cloud and its shadow are used to intensify the brilliance of the light and the dramatic aspect of this mood of Nature. This is landscape in the grand style; but its homelier, more intimate note appealed equally to the artist. A lovely example of the picturesque corner portrayed for its own intrinsic beauty in the etching executed in 1645 know as ‘Six’s Bridge’.


Paul Sandby:
Paul Sandby a contemporary of Richard Wilson, famed as ‘the father of water colour art’ was one of the first to popularize landscape by going about the country sketching gentleman’s mansions and parks. Landowners were pleased to purchase his and other artists watercolour views on their estates, and their pride in their own property was gradually converted by these artists to an appreciation of the beauties of Nature.


William Turner:
The establishment of landscape in the popular estimation as a branch of art, equal to the highest achievements of portraiture or historical painting, was finally achieved by Turner, the greatest glory of British art.
Turner met the brilliant water colorist Thomas Girtin and was influenced by him. In 1797 Turner exhibited his first oil picture, a study of moonlight, at the Royal Academy, most of the view he painted at the time was in watercolour.
Turner owed most of his diligent study of Nature, to a most poetic painter in watercolors, John Robert Cozens. Cozens was indeed Turners immediate predecessor in watercolour and the first to produce those atmospheric effects which Turner rivaled and excelled.
Turner looked beyond the mere details to a larger treatment of Nature, seizing all the poetry and sunshine, and the mists of morn and eve, with the grandeur of storm and the glow of sunset. In feeling his way to this period of his first style Turner looked not only to nature but also to the example of his great predecessors, Claude, Richard Wilson and the Dutch painters of the 17th century.
The influence of the Dutch school and particularly of Van de Velde, is apparent in many of his early works ‘Calais Pier’. Already however Turner had improved on Van de Velde, who was never able to interpret weather so truly and vigorously as it is painted in the rolling sea and windy sky of this stimulating sea-piece.
Turner spent much time traveling, visiting France, Switzerland, Italy and the Rine and producing innumerable watercolors as well as some of his finest oil painting.
That splendor of the sky, which was to be the peculiar glory of Turner is first indicated in his ‘Sun rising through Vapor’ painted in 1807.
After 1820 a great change was manifest in his manner of painting. In the early paintings dark predominated with a very limited portion of light, and he painted solidly throughout with a vigorous and full brush; but his later works are based on a light ground with a small portion of dark and using opaque touches of the purest orange, blue, purple and other powerful colors. Turner obtained infinitely delicate gradations, which produced a splendid and harmonious effect. This new manner is first seen in his ‘Bay of Baiae’ painted in 1823 and six years later in 1829, it is revealed in all its glory in one of Turners most poetical works ‘Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus’ in which as Redgrave has said “while in no way gaudy, it seems impossible to surpass the power of colour which he has attained, or the terrible beauty in which he has clothed his poetic conception.” In this glorious picture, “a work almost without parallel in art,” the nominal subject has little more power over us today than it has in the Claudes. Turner’s painting attracts us primarily, not as an illustration to a familiar story from Homer, but as glowing piece of colour, a magnificently decorative transcription of a flaming sunrise. And with all this the picture is a ‘magic casement’ through which our imagination looks in all the intoxication of triumph, of final victory after perils escaped; and though Turner himself probably did not know it and few who look upon his master piece are conscious of the fact, this picture subconsciously expresses the elation, the pride and even the touch of insolence, that all England felt after her victorious issue from the Napoleonic wars.
As Turner altered his style of oil painting, so also he revolutionized his practice in watercolour. Originally, in common with the older embers of the Early English Water-color School, Turner began a drawing by laying in the gradations of light and shade with gray or some other neutral tint, and afterwards represented the hue of each object by tinting it with colour; but this he found resulted in a certain heaviness of aspect. Accordingly, in his later watercolors he proceeded to treat the whole surface of his drawing as colour, using at once the pigments by which the scene might most properly be represented. By delicate hatching he achieved wonderful qualities of broken hues, air tints, and atmosphere, so that the view when finished glowed and sparkled wit the brilliance of Nature’s own colors. This method of putting on the colour direct, without any under-painting of the subject in light and shade, has been to a great extent the foundation of modern painting.
As he grew older, and particularly after his visit to Venice in 1832, Turner became more and more ambitious of realizing to the uttermost the fugitive radiances of dawn and sunset. Light, or rather the colour of light, became the objective of his painting, to the exclusion of almost everything else, and few of his contemporaries could follow his as he devoted his brush more and more to depicting the pageant of the heavens.
His work was severely criticized and held up to ridicule and mirth by Thackeray and others, he was regarded as a madman and accused of ‘flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face’. Even ‘The Flinging Temeraire’ which seems to us so poetic today in its contrast of moonlight with sunlight, to match the contrast between the sailing ship that was passing away and the steamer that heralded the future, even this work was deemed to be exaggerated and extravagant and to most of the admirers of his earlier picture paintings like ‘The Approach to Venice’ were utterly incomprehensible.

Thomas Gritin:
A contemporary to Turner was Thomas Girtin. He died at an early age and would have probably have rivaled Turner as a painter in oils. Although his career was cut short he lived long enough to make himself one of the greatest painters in watercolors. In this medium his style was bold and vigorous and by suppressing irrelevant detail he gave a sense of grandeur to the scenes he depicted. His chief sketching-ground was the northern countries, and particularly its cathedral cities, and his favorite subjects were the ruins of our old abbey and castles and the hilly scenery of the north.
Girtin’s White House at Chelsea is an apt example of his splendid work. This wonderful view across the Thames, at sunset, the ‘masses’ formed chiefly out of clouds in shadow, the White House and its reflection standing out on the low, dark horizon, is a work of pure genius, executed with the most astonishing delicacy of touch. The paint has floated down onto the paper and there is no sign if a human hand in the brushwork.
Girtin’s skill can be analyzed under six heads. He drew the inspiration for his designs not from him imagination but from nature, searching around the country-side until he found what he wanted. Then he rearranged the forms, but not so drastically as to dim the natural effect. Girtin achieves a delicate counterpoint between earth and sky, which are not so much divided by a horizon as united by the overall light-system. Fourthly he eliminates all the details except when he needs to emphasis a significant small shape and patch of colour. His pictures have remarkable breadth, depth and area, which make them seem much bigger than they actually are. Fifth, his exact colouring, created by many washes when needed, bring out the actual texture of ground, whether moss, furze, grass, rock, peat, heather, bracken, all seen from a distance, with the reassuring fidelity, so that one is at home within the depths of his paintings. Finally, Girtin was full of tricks and constantly inventing new ones.



Peter De Wint:
A younger student with Turner and Girtin was Peter De Wint. De Wint loved to paint direct from Nature and was never so happy as when in the fields. His subjects are principally chosen in the eastern and northern countries, and though often tempted to the extend his studies to the Continent, the love of England and English scenery was so strong that, except for one visit to Normandy, he never left these shores. He formed a style of his own, notably for the simplicity and breadth of light and shade, and the fresh limpidity of his colour. He was a great purist in technique and objected to the use of Chinese white and body colour, which he thought tended to five a heavy effect to a drawing. He excelled in river scene and ‘The Trent near Burton’ is a beautiful example of his tender and faithful rendering of a typical English scene.

David Cox:
David Cox is best at portraying a windy day or in stormy weather. He paid attention to the surrounding scenery and learned to render the varied effects of Nature and the aspects of morning, noon and twilight. In 1829 he made a tour on the Continent, choosing his subjects on the coasts and in the market-places of Antwerp and Brussesl and the crowded bridges of Paris but he liked best the scenery of his own country particularly the mountainous country of Wales and Scotland whose gloomy passes he pained with great effect and grandeur. He also painted many views of the Thames and of the country round London, but till he was past fifty he worked exclusively in water colour. In 1839 Cox became acquainted with Muller, he watched him at work and henceforward devoted himself more to oils than to water colour. During these later years Cox gave himself chiefly to oil-painting: his best pictures were seldom seen in London during his own lifetime and when shown not generally appreciated. David Cox’s work is distinguished its light, its vigor and its spaciousness. His picture ‘A windy day’ also known as ‘Crossing the Common’ is a happy example of the scene and weather he excelled in rendering.

John Constable:
One of the greatest English painters along with Turner is John Constable. But while Turner succeeded Constable failed the explanation can be found in the totally different character of the landscapes painted by the two artists. Turner as Claude used some human figures in his paintings but Constable was true to the pure form of landscape painting and did not use human figures.
After spending some years working in the picturesque tradition of landscape and the manner of Gainsborough, Constable developed his own original treatment from the attempt to render scenery more directly and realistically, carrying on but modifying in an individual way the tradition inherited from Ruisdael and the Dutch 17th-century landscape painters.
Constable turned away from the pictorial conventions of 18th-century landscape painters, who, he said, were always `running after pictures and seeking the truth at second hand'. Constable thought that `No two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world', and in a then new way he represented in paint the atmospheric effects of changing light in the open air, the movement of clouds across the sky, and his excited delight at these phenomena, stemming from a profound love of the country: `The sound of water escaping from mill dams, willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts and brickwork, I love such things. These scenes made me a painter.'

He never went abroad, and his finest works are of the places he knew and loved best, particularly Suffolk and Hampstead, where he lived from 1821. To render the shifting flicker of light and weather he abandoned fine traditional finish, catching the sunlight in blobs of pure white or yellow, and the drama of storms with a rapid brush.
Constable worked extensively in the open air, drawing and sketching in oils, but his finished pictures were produced in the studio. For his most ambitious works--`six-footers' as he called them--he followed the unusual technical procedure of making a full-size oil sketch, and in the 20th century there has been a tendency to praise these even more highly than the finished works because of their freedom and freshness of brushwork.


Théodore Rousseau
He is the greatest landscape painter of his time together with Camille Corot. He was born on April, 15, 1812, and when Jean-Francois Millet became the painter of country works and intimist scenes of the farm from his arrival in Barbizon, Theodore Rousseau was the one of clusters of tall trees and glades in the forest. Though he was called “ the perpetual refused of the salons ” he was more famous than Millet when he settled in Barbizon around 1844.
At the young age of nineteen, Théodore Rousseau abruptly entered the art world of Paris when he received the admiration of many of his fellow artists. His future success appeared secure. His landscapes offered fresh and unique images of rural France, showing his substantial talent as a colorist and interpreter. As time passed, his artistic career failed to progress at the steady pace some may have envisioned, finding only occasional spurts of academic acceptance, his demise plagued by frequent Salon refusals. He began to be known more as “Le Grand Refusé”, or the “great rejected one,” an evaluation that hovered over his career. What remained constant was the admiration bestowed upon him by other progressive artists and when he was allowed to exhibit, popularity with the public. Throughout his artistic career Rousseau proved a challenge to the Salon tradition and established the dominant traits of his artistic temperament, which were, as noted by Nicholas Green in the exhibition catalog Théodore Rousseau: 1812-1867 (London: Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, 1982, pg. 9): “a religious humility before nature combined with an arrogance about the rightness of his point of view, a scorn for 19th century civilization along with a determination to succeed.” Despite many difficult setbacks orchestrated by classically oriented Salon jurors, Rousseau remained unwavering in his intense devotion to his work and the furtherance of the appreciation and importance of landscape painting in France.


Bibliography:

Websites:
http://www.ibiblio.org
http://media.dickinson.edu

Books:

Art: A New History – Paul Johnson
The Story Of Art – E.H. Gombrich
Art Through The Ages – Gardner
A History Of Art – general editor: Sir Lawrence Gowing

Sherline Pimenta

Modern Western Art

M.V.A. Part I

April 2006

M.S.U. Baroda