Older is Better

During our stay in Rome, we were lucky enough to have the chance to see many ancient structures and beautiful works of art. One of the most stunning being St. Peter's Basilica, the Papal Cathedral in the Vatican City. It was possibly the most beautiful building that I have ever seen. It was consecrated in 1626, so around the “end” of the Renaissance. In my opinion, the Basilica is the perfect example of Renaissance art at its highest. It held the four central concepts of the Renaissance, even secularism.

The giant and awe-striking structure absolutely blew my mind and then to think that this was constructed in the 1500 and 1600s, made it even more unbelievable. Humanism was expressed through the general celebration of mankind's relationship with God. Of course, churches are made for communing with God and then there were pictures and sculptures that depicted this relationship. One of the most memorable was the sculpture of Mary holding a grown Jesus in her lap. The expression on her face was pure sorrow.

Another large them was individualism. The fact that humans were able to construct such a massive and beautiful building is a celebration of versatility and virtuosity itself. I think the Basilica is a great example of Pico's argument, that mankind is capable of doing whatever they set their mind to. The thing that today's generation seems to have a hard time grasping is that it actually takes hard work and lots of time. I think the people of the Renaissance truly appreciated beautiful things and they knew that they were capable of achieving those things. The Basilica is a glorious example of these ideals, humanism, individualism, secularism, and historical self-consciousness brought together.

Higher Ground

As a Baptist that has been going to church all my life, I have many times heard the pastor say, “If you remember nothing else from what I said, remember this...” I feel like I had one of those moments today in class. I remember talking about many things, but when we started discussing Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man, I became particularly engaged. Pico discussed many great topics, but one of the biggest themes was, as humans, we can literally be whatever we wish to be. We just have to want it badly enough.

Humans have the flexibility and freedom of choice. We can move upward towards the angels or digress to animalistic behavior. So which way should we go? I believe that Pico encourages us to move towards the “sacred mysteries,” Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones (72). These are the very creatures that were created to serve the Creator and Pico suggests that, “If we have willed it, we shall be second to them in nothing” (72). This is a pretty strong statement considering Pico describes these beings as having “the fire of love,” “splendor of intelligence,” and “the steadfastness of judgement” (72). Pico challenges humans to emulate these beings and achieve total potential.

There are some clear central concepts in this except of the text. Pico begins this particular section with, “Let us disdain earthly things, [and] despise heavenly things” (72). I believe this is a good example of secularism. The focus is on the here and now, certainly not the afterlife. Pico does not want man to be the best possible to reserve a seat in the afterlife, he wants them to be good for their own sake. There is also a running theme of individualism, with Pico. He celebrates human life and gladly embraces the capabilities of mankind, while encouraging others to achieve heavenly potential. I hear very little humanism in this particular except, however there definitely is a focus on asking questions of the self: What are we truly capable of? How far are we willing to push ourselves? I also don't really hear any historical self-consciousness, however I do infer that Pico knew that he was living in a special time where humans were re-discovering just exactly what they are capable of.

Pico's challenge, while a bold one, is a beautiful one. I personality only want to move upwards, to become the best human being possible. If I want to become fluent in Italian, I can. I just have to want it and I just have to work towards it. And that is so much of my problem. I just want to settle with what comes easy to me instead of working towards something better. So I would like to take Pico up and see how far I can go.

First Impressions

First impressions are always difficult, at least for me. I have this bad habit of making unfair judgments and setting unrealistic expectations, then in the end, I just end up disappointed. The first night in Italy, I was wondering what I was doing here. The hotel that we were staying at seemed to be in a trashy ghetto, one you could find in many places in the United States. Why would I come all the way to Italy and pay money to get something that I could find in my backyard? However, the second day exceeded my expectations. While it was different from what I imagined, Perugia is beautiful and historic and I definitely could not find things like this in my back yard. I am trying my best to not do the same with this course. There are things that I expect and I may be slightly disappointed if these ideals are not true, but I am trying my best to keep an open mind.

I first and foremost expect this class to be an expansion of my mind. I have to remind myself that this is a study abroad trip and not a vacation. I am here to learn, and learn is what I plan to do. However, I plan to learn not only in the classroom, but also in the very streets that I walk everyday, in local muesems, and in the trips that we take. For the first time, I will not just be learning about Western Civilization in a book, but living in it. I expect to learn about art, music, and philosophy. I am especially exciting because none of these things directly apply to my nursing degree. I hope to become a more well rounded student that is able to think, citize, and write about my educational experience. Most of all, I hope to grow.