[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.86,0:00:16.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ever see a medieval painting of baby Jesus
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.92,0:00:18.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sitting or standing on his mother's lap
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.47,0:00:20.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wonder why she's so large?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.60,0:00:22.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Paintings like Cimabue's enthroned Madonna with angels
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.99,0:00:24.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or Duccio's Maesta
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.32,0:00:26.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also appear out of proportion.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.18,0:00:27.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If Mary were to stand up, it seems,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.99,0:00:30.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the angels in the picture would be as tall as her shin bone,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.58,0:00:32.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and her torso would be disproportionately small
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.52,0:00:34.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when compared to her legs.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.24,0:00:36.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe you thought the artist simply wasn't skilled enough
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.12,0:00:37.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to paint realistically
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.36,0:00:39.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or lacked the mathematical skill of perspective.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.34,0:00:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that's not the full story.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.82,0:00:42.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To understand why, we need to go back
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.70,0:00:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the late fifth century
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.17,0:00:46.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the city of Rome was attacked by the Goths.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.54,0:00:48.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Rome was built in marble and meant to last forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.94,0:00:50.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It represented, for many years,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.42,0:00:52.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the pinnacle of human civilization,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.17,0:00:54.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so its destruction left a huge void.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.93,0:00:58.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Theologians, who preached about a world beyond the physical,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.82,0:01:01.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,began attracting an audience as Rome crumbled,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.02,0:01:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Christianity started to fill the void left by the Empire.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.66,0:01:07.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a replacement for the physical beauty of Rome,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.11,0:01:09.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christianity offered a metaphysical beauty of virtue
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.85,0:01:11.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and an eternal heaven
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.16,0:01:13.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could not be destroyed as Rome had.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.48,0:01:14.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After the fall of Rome,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.86,0:01:17.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,early medieval theologians turned away from physical beauty,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.87,0:01:20.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rejecting it in favor of inner-beauty.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.11,0:01:22.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They maintained that while the physical world was temporary,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.74,0:01:25.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,virtue and religion were permanent.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.09,0:01:27.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beautiful objects could lead to a misguided worship of the object
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.83,0:01:30.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than the worship of goodness.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.10,0:01:32.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is said that the early sixth century preacher, St. Benedict,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.37,0:01:33.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,upon thinking of a beautiful woman,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.99,0:01:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,threw himself into a thorn patch,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.93,0:01:37.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and through his suffering,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.07,0:01:39.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regained his focus on spiritual beauty.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.48,0:01:40.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He feared his desire for the beautiful woman
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.95,0:01:43.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would distract him from his desire to love God.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.90,0:01:47.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As European civilization transitioned away from empires
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.06,0:01:48.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and towards religion,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.34,0:01:50.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,monasteries became the gatekeepers of knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.100,0:01:52.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which meant that classical books
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.38,0:01:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that praised physical pleasures
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.68,0:01:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were not copied or protected.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.76,0:01:58.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without protection, they became the victims of natural decay,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.69,0:01:59.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fire,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.87,0:02:00.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,flooding,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.65,0:02:01.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or pests.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.74,0:02:04.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And without the help of monks transcribing new copies,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.03,0:02:06.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these texts and the philosophies they carried
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.51,0:02:08.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,disappeared in Western Europe
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.29,0:02:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and were replaced by the works of people like St. Benedict,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.28,0:02:14.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which brings us back to these depictions of Jesus and Mary.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.36,0:02:17.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because Christianity had so fervently rejected physical beauty,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.62,0:02:19.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these medieval artists purposefully avoided
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.75,0:02:21.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,aesthetically pleasing forms.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.75,0:02:24.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first, decorations for churches or palaces
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.30,0:02:26.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were limited to interesting geometric patterns,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.65,0:02:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which could be pleasing
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.66,0:02:31.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without inspiring sinful thoughts of physical pleasure.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.01,0:02:32.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the medieval period progressed,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.52,0:02:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,depictions of Jesus and Mary were tolerated,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.43,0:02:37.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the artist clearly made an effort to veil Mary
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.01,0:02:39.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and give her disproportionately large legs,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.44,0:02:41.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with those enormous shin bones.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.77,0:02:44.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fear remained that a beautiful illustration of Mary
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.11,0:02:45.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might inspire the viewer to love the painting
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.90,0:02:47.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the physical form of Mary,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.61,0:02:50.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than the virtue she's meant to represent.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.44,0:02:52.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So even though it may be fun to think we can paint
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.07,0:02:54.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more realistically than Cimabuey or Duccio,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.62,0:02:56.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we need to remember that they had different goals
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.50,0:02:58.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when picking up a paintbrush.