THE HUMAN IMAGE

In the

ARTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE
HUMANITIES

The Human Image

in the Arts
Introduction to the Humanities
Steven Patrick C.

Preface by Christine C. GodinezOrtega

a textbook project of the
English Department
MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology
published by
IPAG- Artists Resource Management (ARM), Inc

copyright 2009 by
Steven Patrick C. Fernandez and the
authors
All Rights Reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or used in
any form or by any means without
written permission from the author,
except for the materials and images
that are in the public domain.
2nd printing, 2011
MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology
INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS
GUILD
Artists Resource Management (ARM)
A. Bonifacio Ave., Tibanga, 9200 Iligan
City
www.msuiit.edu.ph/ipag
tibofernandez@yahoo.com.ph
(063) 4922354 telfax: (063) 2232494
mobile: 09167006209
Designs and layout:
Steven Patrick C. Fernandez

CONTENTS
Preface
Part One. Mans image in the Humanities 1
Chapter 1. Man, Nature, and the Humanities
Chapter 2. What is Art?

Chapter 3. Studying Art and the Humanities

Discussion and Activities25
Part Two. Mediums of Art

27

Chapter. The Basic Concepts 29

Discussion and Activities35
Chapter 5. The Visual Arts

37

Chapter 6. Photography

47

Chapter 7. Architecture

51

Chapter 8. Literature

57

Chapter 9. Music

65

Chapter 10. Theatre

77

Chapter 11. Dance

85

Chapter 12. Cinema and Film 93

Discussion and Activities101

17

Part Three. Art, History in the West

Introduction

103

104

Chapter 13. Ancient Art

107

Chapter 14. Classical Art 115

Chapter 15. Art in the Medieval Period 129
Chapter 16. Renaissance 141
Chapter 17. Baroque and Rococo 151
Chapter 18. Neo-Classicism

157

Chapter 19. Romanticism 163

Chapter 20. Realism
Chapter 21. Modern Art

169
175

Discussion and Activities188

Part Four. Philippine Art 191
Chapter 22. Classifying Philippine Art

193

Discussion and Activities212

Chapter 23. Reading in the Philippine Arts and Letters
215
Index

233

Bibliography

237

preface
At last, a textbook for Humanities students of MSU-IIT!
Through the efforts of author, Steven Patrick C. Fernandez, and in
cooperation with the MSU-IITs Department of English, this book aims to fill
the lack of an accessible, inexpensive textbook for students unfilled since the
Humanities subject was offered in MSU-IIT in the 1980s.
Considering the importance placed on science and technology in this
part of the country, one can understand the dearth or paucity of such a
textbook towards a total development of students from diverse groups,
religions and persuasions. And, only those who realize that the person needs
to understand himself, and the world around him through the humanities, can
this textbook be looked upon as a significant step in breaking the biases
and/or feelings of superiority or inferiority among the literate but,
uneducated, for true education endeavors to make ma keep in touch with the
fascinating elements of life, enabling him to decide what is important and
what needs to be improved.
In 23 chapters along with a compilation of readings, this textbook
introduces the students to the various disciplines like philosophy, history,
religion, architecture, literature and the fine arts, among others, under the
all-embracing subject humanities. In other words, the students read about,
and experience for the first time, ideas, art works, artists, and places they
either have a vague idea of, or, have no notion of throughout the history of
the world.
Commercialism and personal concerns seem to define the spirit of our
age today and, in a way, have diminished the appreciation of the fines things
in life making most people the poorer for it. It is with pride that the MSU-IIT
has professors such as Fernandez who could produce a humanities textbook
to help create an atmosphere for research and publication to benefits its
students, leave a legacy worth the emulation of his colleagues, and
contribute to the prestige of the Institute.
To the students: enjoy this textbook in order for you to discover why
works of art, for instance, have continued to influence the worlds events and
move many more to tears of action to understand that, in reality, life and art,
at some point merge because man must know how to live in order to
complete his journey as a human being on earth.

CHRISTINE F. GODINEZORTEGA
November 17, 2009

Part
one

THE HUMAN
IMAGE
IN THE ARTS

Man, Nature, & the

Humanities
This chapter discusses the nature of Man. Mans history is illustrated by timelines
that show how he and his community grows, from his extended families to small
communities and to larger societies. Mans quest for answers to fundamental
questions about Life and his attempt to control his environment becomes the impetus
for Mans best creations.
The Humanities study the best that Man has created.
Thousands of years of Mans interaction with nature and with his
fellow men have produced creations that witness Mans quest to
understand Life.
Man has attempt to explain phenomena around him.
Through time, he has come up with answers and insights. He has
expressed his thoughts and feelings about his conditions in his
countless struggles to come to terms with living and his world. In
many ways, these expressions form some of his greatest
achievements: language, literature, history, art, music, and
philosophy. We study these answers and insights in the disciplines
of the natural and social sciences.
These achievements form the Humanities (from homo,
meaning man or human), the collective disciplines which depict the
human condition. These disciplines which are studies that attempt
to make sense of our world produced the sum of all the knowledge
that Man has produced. One branch of this knowledge is Science
that explains Life in an objective and empirical manner. Another
branch is the Arts that reflect Mans impressions about his
existence and the world around him and which constitute the fine
Man, Nature,
arts,
& philosophy, religion, and culture. These entire disciplines

from this great interest to learn more about Man.

Man needed to explain Nature and the world where he lived. He carefully
observed his world noting down what he saw. What he could not see he explained
intuitively using his feelings and intellect. Thus, Man evolved two general ways of
explaining the world, one from a scientific point and the other from an intuitive, creative
point.
The Sciences have their empirical methods of studying nature and reality, while
the Humanities interpreted life in creations we call the Arts silos of a deeper awareness
of, knowledge about, and sensitivity to Mans greatest thoughts and feelings.
The artists and the scholars, who study them and their creations, are called
humanists. These humanists possessed varied knowledge as Man was valued according
to the breadth of his knowledge in the Sciences and the Arts. They were the keepers of
the souls of cultures and nations. The Italians called the humanists the uomo universale of
the universal man. In its ranks were geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,
Bernini, and Albert Einstein.
Why Study the Humanities?
We study the Humanities because we wish to know about Mans greatest
achievements. Reviewing what these great men were and what they did to humanity, we
set them as models for our own lives. Their works become our inspirations. Through their
works, too, we learn about Humanity, that big world which we are a part of. The
achievements of great men make us appreciate how far human knowledge and creativity
can achieve.
Studying the Humanities shows us a lot about how Man thinks and feels. We
uncover Mans nature. Man is inherently inquisitive. He is anxious and fearful, too. He
tries to understand the phenomena around him and in so doing attempts to give answers
to questions that he himself has raised about his condition.
Man being rational, sensitive, and imaginative is distinct from beasts because
of his capacity to think, feel, and muster the courage to ask questions. Being intelligent,
sensitive and expressive being, Man invokes his faculties to express what he thinks and
feels, and these expressions redound to enriching the communitys knowledge.
In appreciating the best of Mans achievements particularly in his creative works,
we emulate both Man and his achievements. This knowledge gives us idea if the depths
that Mann has reached in seeking for answers to make the world less confusing to us.
Mans works in the Humanities answer many of the questions we seek about Life, the
most compelling being: Who am I? Why am I here?
Asking questions, in a way, leads us to seek for higher meaning in life than that
state where we are in now. The Humanities allows us to experience a state beyond our
routines of eating, sleeping, and working for a living. We learn about appreciating the
world around us. We become sensitive to our environment. We sense how nature
embraces us. We connect our lives to a higher cosmic order that which gods, spirits, and
the supernatural occupy. In seeking

4
Man, Nature,
&

For a higher state of living, we seek for the ideal and, in a

sense, for perfection.
See how much knowledge we have
acquired from the time primitive man
discovered fore. Primitive man had little
solutions to the problems that plagued
him. He was beset with disease, famine,
drought, and the dangers of a hostile
environment. Through the ages, Man found answers and
these answers enlighten us now. The knowledge that men and women
through the ages have bequeathed to modern man has not only produced in
us a better understanding of Humanity but has made us become better
humans, as well
Man has studied the Humanities for thousands of years. The collective
knowledge that the human race has produced has given as a far greater
understanding of our world. Although these answers about our existence are
not in any way complete, still, the Humanities has given Mankind the
directions to continue to survive and to improve its present states of living.
Besides studying the Humanities in the classroom, we can experience
the Humanities by watching performances like plays, concerts, and recitals.
We can attend art exhibits, visit the museum, watch films, experience the
culture of an indigenous community, or hands-on create our own works of
art.
Early Man and his World
Early man may have been so insecure, what with the hostile occurrences
around him. There were natural events which he could not explain nor could
he control. He needed to provide food for himself and his family to survive.
He took meat from wild animals like boars and bulls because he had not yet
discovered gathering and keeping grain. He was first a hunter before he
became a farmer. It will take many more generations to come before he
would domesticate animals and learn to plant for food.
Animals then were a lot fiercer and bigger that they are today. Worse,
man only had a sharp stones tied to long poles to kill the animals that were
often the more successful hunters of men. To protect themselves better
ancient hunters banded themselves to make their hunting expeditions
successful, but even then, these expeditions often ended with many of the
men being killed.
Deep problems compounded Mans early efforts to survive. Men had to
hunt regularly as meat could not be stores for long periods. Winter was
particularly difficult. But having the ability to
survive, man devised means to control what he
needed to control. Art played a vital role in
these efforts. Wanting to master control over
his hunting trips and the animals, he drew
images of the beasts in the walls of his cave
homes in the hope that by capturing the spirits
of these beasts (through ritual), he would
weaken them for easy prey.

Communities were small then, perhaps consisting of only a few families

that sought shelter in caves naturally formed in the side of cliffs. The birth,
therefore, of a baby was a significant.

5
Man, Nature,
&
the

bison figure from the Altamira

cave
Northern Spain, c. 15,000 B.C.

Venus of Willendorf

event since another person meant an increase of the population of

the extended family, ensuring its survival and promising the
prospect of more help for labor and hunting. That was the
responsibility of women delineated to ensure the progeny of the
clan.
Primitive man had no inkling that sex resulted in procreation.
The act of birth was attributed to fertility goddesses. When
archaeologists discovered what was perhaps the most famous fertility
icon of prehistoric man in Western Europe, they endearingly called it
the Venus of Willendorf (Venus was the Roman goddess of
eroticism). The WIllendorf icon had swollen breasts and an open vulva
clearly suggesting a pregnant woman. People believed that the
goddesses of fertility decided whether or not a mother should not bear a child, so that
communities offered appeasements and gifts to the goddesses to ensure progeny.
Offerings were done in rituals, and these offerings were events that cemented Mans
relationship with his deities. Man communicated to the supernatural world through
expressions that facilitated what he sought for from forms were perhaps the first creative
expressions. Meanwhile, some men had the greater powers than others to communicate
with the gods. They were the shamans, the first artists sought by the community to talk
to the gods, because these baylans and baylanes were themselves mediums with some
access to the supernatural world. They, too, had the craft to use chants, music, and dance
to facilitate this process of prayer.
The amusing title of a movie The Gods Must Be Crazy suggests truth that Man often
believed that the predicaments in their lives were the gods doings. A whimsical god may
punish a peeve with sickness or a whole community with famine. Bounty was rewarded to
the gods favorites. Many great Literatures narrate Mans endless relations with the gods.
Truly, gods and religion played important role in the lives of early societies, as they
still do today. Worship was manifested in sculptures, music and dances. Art was a part of
religion. If religion is intrinsic in Mans life, then Art, being intrinsic to religion, is as much a
part of Man as religion is. Art, therefore, facilitated the needs of Man. Art was not just
some appendage to civilization. Art, integrated with religion, was a necessary tool to
survive. The use of Art in religion proves that Man survived through Art.
Humanities as a Disciple
We study the Humanities in relation to how people appreciate art. Appreciation
varies among cultures. But differences in appreciation among the different cultures are
distinct only in the degrees of what beauty is and how beauty is perceived because human
concerns like compassion, family, survival, and love are universal and
common to all humans. Humankind will always perceive harmony as
beautiful and chaos as ugly. Physical deformity is ugly as a balanced body
Man, Nature, structure is beautiful; these are values that cultures share.

&

Values define the appreciation of beauty. The study of

beauty and its appreciation is called Aesthetics.
Aesthetics, influenced by values nurtures by cultures,
evolve from long interactions of art works and the
people who perceive these works. Communication
value beauty, in many instances, because beauty
works for their good. The positive is associated with
beauty.
There are standards, and most often, the
standards of beauty we study are based on that set
by Western traditions which have roots in Greece and
Rome. Asia has its own conventions of beauty
different from those of the West. China and India set
the standards for great civilizations. These
differences are largely the results of the varying lifestyle influenced by religion,
history, philosophy, politics, economics, and technology. The sophistication in
cultural expressions in the arts, particularly in literature and poetry, measure the
greatness cultures have achieved. In fact, language and literature are central topics
in the Humanities.
In the West, we often refer to classical antiquity, namely the Ancient Greek
and Roman cultures, as a backbone of the Humanities. The Classics also refer to
major traditions in the Indian Vedas and Upanishads, the Chinese writings of
Confucius, Lao-tse and Chuang-tzu, the ancient Hammurabi Code, the Gilgamesh
Epic from Mesopotamia, as well as the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The study of the Humanities can be traced to ancient Greece where it became
a basis of broad education for the citizens. Today, this idea of a broad education
refers to the pre-major liberal arts preparation (or general education) for college
students before they specialize in their degree courses.
In any case, we absorb a holistic learning studying the Humanities because,
through this study, we recognize all the facets that have made Man the human
being that he is today. By studying the Humanities, we pry open Mans long story
from the time he hunted beasts for food to this time when he meets difficult
challenges to save his earth. The Humanities seats us in the ringside section of a
long great spectacle where the protagonists engage in various battles amid a setting
called the world.

Another Venus goddess is the Venus of Laussell, a 20,000-year old 18-inch (1 feet) high limestone bas-relief
sculpture of a nude female figure. The figure holds a curved bison horn in its right hand. It was founded on a sheltered wall of
limestone in the Dordogne Valley in France. Specialists believe that the horn symbolizes both the crescent moon and the
Universal Vulva, the source of all life. The horn is incised with thirteen notches, corresponding to the 13 lunar months in a year.
Researchers also say that these marks represent the menstrual cycles in one year. Like the later Willendorf icon that
represents fertility, the Laussel figure with large breasts and vulva has her hand on her womb.

7
Man, Nature,
&
the